The US President, Mr Barack Obama, is confronting Americans’ anxiety over rising gasoline prices by drawing attention to his energy policies and taking credit for rising oil and gas production, a greater mix of energy sources and decreased consumption.
Mr Obama, who faces re-election in November, is heading to Florida today to promote an energy strategy that the administration says will reduce dependence on foreign oil in the long term. But Mr Obama’s pitch will also have a subtext, that the federal government can do little to halt the rise in gasoline prices.
He will speak at the University of Miami and tour the school’s Industrial Assessment Center, which trains students as industrial energy-efficiency experts.
White House advisers believe Mr Obama needs to address the recent spike in gasoline prices, even though they see it as a cyclical occurrence.
His aides worry that the rise in prices could reverse the country’s economic gains and the President’s improved political standing. A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows that though Mr Obama’s approval rating on the economy has climbed, 58 per cent disapprove of what he’s doing on gas prices.
Republicans have seized on the issue, citing Mr Obama’s decision to reject a permit for a cross-country oil pipeline as evidence of a misguided policy.
White House officials point to increased oil production and decreased consumption as evidence that Mr Obama’s policies are working and will lead to greater energy independence in the long run. But they assert there is little Mr Obama or any president can do to change the trajectory of prices now.
Despite more domestic oil and less consumption, “these prices are going up, and that tells you that there are other things beyond our control, like unrest in the Middle East or other factors like the growth of emerging countries such as China and India,” White House spokesman, Mr Jay Carney, said.