Last Monday, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil prices briefly dipped down to $94 a barrel, marking its lowest level since late February.

The last time a barrel of oil cost that much, the national average for a gallon of regular was just over $3.50. Yet today it remains as high as $5 in some states.

When the cost of oil spikes, gasoline prices skyrocket. So why is it that when oil prices decrease rapidly, the price at the pump has barely dropped? Greed. Greed from the Big Oil corporations is unfairly driving up the costs on hardworking American families.

Now, the recent gas price spikes were not unexpected. President Biden warned Americans that his decision to ban imports of Russian petroleum products into the U.S. would affect gas prices. Still, even with these consequences, the vast majority of Americans and politicians — Democrats and Republicans — supported the move as part of a global effort to ensure Vladimir Putin’s Russia remains an economic pariah.

But let’s be clear: Ukraine’s senseless war is no excuse for our nation’s richest oil corporations to make America’s working families foot the bill at the pump.

These companies earned a record $174 billion in profits during the first nine months of 2021. Look no further than ExxonMobil, America’s largest oil company, which bragged earlier this month that its first-quarter earnings profited $9.3 billion from pumping oil and gas alone, breaking a seven-year quarterly record.

If there is anyone that can afford Putin’s price hike — it is Big Oil.

I already know what you’re thinking. It’d be foolish for anyone to believe the fossil fuel industry is going to choose relief for hardworking Americans over their greed and profit.

So, how do we manage the playing field? In the immediate term, we need Congress to pass the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, which will lower consumer costs and maintain American competitiveness by taxing the oil companies that are profiteering in this moment of crisis. This is how we lower costs for families while holding Big Oil accountable and preventing further exploitation.

This is, however, solely a short-term solution to a long-term problem. It’s long past time the U.S. ends our reliance on fossil fuel corporations and instead strengthens our energy independence and boosts our supply chain to prevent this scenario from ever occurring again.

Luckily, significant steps have been taken in recent months. To help insulate workers and families from price increases, Democrats and one single Republican in the House-passed America COMPETES Act in March to strengthen our nation’s supply chains, bolster domestic manufacturing and reduce our reliance on nations like Russia. On top of that, the bipartisan infrastructure law invested billions of dollars to supercharge America’s transition to electric vehicles, clean energy, and new green, union jobs.

Now it’s time for Congress to double down and speed up — not slow down — our transition to a clean energy future.