By rejecting drilling off America’s Pacific Coast, postponing drilling off our Atlantic Coast for at least five years and taking a generally restrictive approach to U.S. energy production, President Barack Obama has helped artificially inflate oil prices and what we pay for gas.
Gas hit a nationwide average of $3.65 per gallon Friday — the highest ever for this time of year.
Middle Eastern tensions caused by nuke-seeking Iran are making prices rise, too. But that certainly does not provide Obama an excuse for his role in high prices. While foreign instability should be encouraging him to expand U.S. production, he is instead saying inflated prices are “a problem that may not be solved in one year or one term or even one decade.”
We can be sure of this, however: They won’t be solved at all so long as we have a president who rejects obvious solutions at every turn.