Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, slammed President Barack Obama for high gas prices around the nation. “The high gas prices are a direct result of Obama,” Mr. Gingrich posited on CBS News’ “This Morning” Tuesday.
In fact, Mr. Gingrich believes that Mr. Obama has always wanted high gas prices and has tailored his energy policies to this effect. The Georgia Republican cited U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu as an example of an Obama administration official who supports high gas prices.
“Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” Mr. Chu said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September 2008.
“The president himself said he wants to get there, he just wants it to be gradual. His policy has been outrageously anti-American,” Mr. Gingrich posited.
Mr. Gingrich’s concern about high gas prices is a concern that every American is likely to share in the coming months. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.57 per gallon. Gas prices are expected to reach as high as $5 a gallon on the East Coast this summer, Fox19 reports.
Newt.org highlights Mr. Gingrich’s energy plan. The plan, entitled “An American Energy Plan,” posits that “today high gas and energy prices are entirely a function of bad government policies.”
Mr. Gingrich’s plan “would maximize energy production from all sources–oil, natural gas, wind, biofuels, nuclear, clean coal, and more–and would encourage clean energy innovation without discouraging overall energy production.”
