"It is proper that the federal government help alleviate short-term disruptions and price spikes such as those brought about by Hurricane Katrina"

The statement affirms a limited, emergency-focused role for the federal government: stepping in to stabilize markets when shocks from natural disasters cause acute supply disruptions and sudden price spikes. It frames intervention as a temporary bridge rather than a permanent redesign of market dynamics, recognizing that disasters can disable infrastructure, distort information, fuel panic buying, and create bottlenecks that prices alone cannot quickly resolve.

Short-term stabilization can preserve both economic functionality and public trust. When refineries, pipelines, or ports are knocked offline, as happened along the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina, national fuel markets can seize up. Prices surge not only because supply is constrained but because uncertainty amplifies hoarding and speculation. Federal tools, releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, issuing temporary waivers on shipping and fuel standards, coordinating logistics, enforcing anti-gouging rules, and funding rapid repair of critical infrastructure, can dampen volatility, restore flows, and prevent localized crises from cascading across the country.

The emphasis on “proper” signals both prudence and boundaries. Intervention is justified by the scale and interstate nature of the disruption, the presence of market failures in emergencies, and the government’s unique capacity to coordinate across jurisdictions and mobilize resources quickly. Yet it is delimited: the goal is not to suppress price signals indefinitely or institute sweeping controls that could deter investment and recovery. Instead, measures should be targeted, transparent, and sunset as normal market function returns, allowing prices to resume their role in guiding long-term supply and demand.

There is also an equity and social cohesion rationale. Sudden spikes in essentials like fuel and food disproportionately burden lower-income households and critical workers. Rapid, targeted relief, through direct assistance, temporary tax relief, or transportation support, helps maintain mobility, access to goods, and public confidence during recovery. Overall, the stance articulates pragmatic governance: stabilize the patient during the crisis, then step back so the system can heal and adapt.