Gas Buddy reports that today's average gas prices range from $3.02 in Wyoming to $4.23 in Hawaii. Pain at the pump is evident in Kentucky, where prices went up by $0.061 overnight. How are presidential candidates approaching the issue of high gas prices?
Incumbent President Barack Obama: "There is no silver bullet"
"You know there are no quick fixes to this problem, and you know we can't just drill our [way] to lower prices," the Washington Post quotes President Obama during his University of Miami appearance today. The president refrains from making promises that may ease the pain at the pump; in fact, he is very clear in his assertion that only a multi-pronged approach would lead to decreased fuel costs -- and this process may take a decade or longer to develop. The White House has outlined the president's energy agenda which consists of an increase in domestic oil production, a push for the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles and an investment in electric automobiles and associated technology.
Republican Candidate Rick Santorum: The administration plans to "force Americans to drive less"
The Washington Post quotes Santorum during a campaign stop in Arizona on Tuesday. Alleging that the Obama administration is keeping gas prices high on purpose -- so as to reduce global warming -- he told the crowd that a surefire way of reducing carbon emissions is to prevent Americans from driving. The candidate claims that the president accomplishes this goal via regulatory processes. Santorum's own energy policy, as outlined on the candidate's campaign website, calls for onshore and offshore oil drilling ban removals, the elimination of all energy subsidies and tax credits, and a repeal of EPA greenhouse gas regulations.
Republican Candidate Mitt Romney: "Obama administration's energy policy has been simply incoherent"
On Romney's campaign website, the candidate takes to task the current administration's block to offshore drilling. He further points out that the president appears to be waging "war against oil and coal." Romney has a different plan. He intends to reform current regulations. For example, the Clean Air Act would be amended to exclude carbon dioxide. Carbon-based energy resources would be developed at an increased rate, while innovative energy resources would be researched -- without giving preference to any particular plan or type. The latter would prevent the creation of pet projects, some of which have failed in recent months.
Republican Candidate Ron Paul: Undo "Washington's bureaucratic regulations, corporate subsidies, and excessive taxation"
Paul's campaign website outlines an energy policy that favors a free market approach to energy production The candidate sees federal regulations as a direct cause of the energy crisis and the higher costs for Americans to obtain the fuels they need. Paul would undo drilling restrictions, repeal the federal tax currently levied on gasoline ($0.18 savings per gallon of gas for the consumer), pave the way for coal and nuclear power, do away with the EPA, and offer tax credits for the "purchase and production of alternative fuel technologies."
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