Politics
Elections 2012: Obama defends energy policies
Republican candidates seeking the White House criticized the sharp rise in gas prices on Obama’s watch.
The average retail price for a gallon of gas was US$3.81 on Wednesday, 50 cents higher than a month ago.
Gingrich, at a campaign appearance in Illinois, dismissed the president’s remarks as “intellectual nonsense” and said Obama belongs to “the Flat Earth Sierra Club Society.”
“Ask the president why is Saudi oil good and American oil bad?” he said. “Why is Saudi drilling good and American drilling bad?”
In a Fox News interview shortly before Obama spoke, Mitt Romney said Obama should “absolutely” be held responsible for high gasoline prices because “he has not pursued policies that convince the world that America is going to become energy secure, energy independent.”
Romney said Obama has delayed drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and in a national wildlife refuge in Alaska. He also criticized the president for not going forward with the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, and for policies pursued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“So the world believes that America’s not going to have the energy we need and we’re going to have to continue to send hundreds of billions of dollars out of our economy, going into other nations” to pay for fuel, instead of tapping domestic resources, Romney said.
