Business
Increasing gasoline prices: Obama hits back
On Thursday he’ll go a step further, using a speech in Florida to outline his own accomplishments in the energy arena along with a long-term strategy to keep fuel prices down.
“This is a recurrent problem and it’s a problem that reinforces the need that (Obama) identified back when he was a candidate for a comprehensive energy strategy,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Obama advisers have pointed to growing demand in China and unrest in the Middle East as factors out of their control that are affecting the price of oil.
Average gasoline prices have climbed to their highest February levels on record, hitting US$3.53 per gallon last week, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse data.
Gasoline prices have tracked crude oil prices, which have been bolstered by the threat of supply disruptions from the West’s standoff with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Some analysts say U.S. prices could hit US$4 a gallon or more ahead of the summer when driving demand peaks.
Political Battle
Those prices hurt Obama politically as much as they hurt the country economically, and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum seized on them criticize the president for his environmental record.
“Folks are just starting to be able to breathe a little as the economy starts to come back a little bit, unemployment starts to go down,” Santorum said at a campaign event last week.
