President Obama does not "accept responsibility" for high gas prices, his spokesman indicated today, arguing that Obama has done everything he could to bring down the price of oil and blaming the high gas prices on oil price increases caused by global factors.
"The president accepts the responsibility that he identified the next president should accept, back in 2008, which is the need to develop a comprehensive energy policy," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today when asked if Obama "accept[s] responsibility" for the high price of oil and gas. "If you're suggesting that there is responsibility for a rise in the global price of oil, it's certainly not because of anything he hasn't done to expand domestic oil and gas production," Carney added.
Asked if he believes it is fair for Americans to blame the president, Carney noted that gas price hikes are "a recurrent problem." He added that domestic oil production is at a record high right now and that Obama has opened "millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico" to drilling.
The conversation today stemmed from yesterday, when Carney was asked about the Keystone XL pipeline. He said that "the president did not turn down the Keystone pipeline," arguing that Republicans prevented a full environmental review from taking place.
It's true. It's not his fault. Besides, this is not as high as gas has ever been, I don't believe. I'm getting it for $3.60. I'm not going to hang that on him.
AntwortenLöschenPlus everybody knows it's Bush's fault................*grin*
AntwortenLöschenActually, we can place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 into law. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 ended the regulation that prevented speculation from driving up the price of crude oil. The "Commodity Futures Modernization Act" of 2000 allows the energy markets to be run with virtually no regulations. The result is that speculators are allow to manipulate the price of oil by trading electronically many times before any oil is actually shipped to any refinery.
AntwortenLöschenNear the end of George W Bush's second term, we saw a sudden drop in the price of petrol at the pumps. When Obama took office the US national average for petrol at the pump was $1.68/gallon. Since then we have seen climbs in the price of petrol with only the worsening economy tending to slow or reverse prices. Now with the oil embargo against and by Iran we should see petrol prices in the US averaging $5.00/gallon by Summer. This again is due to speculation on oil futures.
Now when Obama was running for office, he promised to do something about the speculation that was driving up prices over the normal market forces. I believe that promised was partly responsible for the sharp decrease in prices at the end of Bush's last term; of course there were other forces in play that I will not expand on here. When Obama took office his pledge to to do something about the speculation on oil futures did not go much beyond forming a committee that as far as I know never had one meeting. One of Obama's goals should have been reversing the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, or at least making some very needed changes. After all, Obama was suppose to bring changes and that largely did not happen.
To learn more about the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, visit the wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_Futures_Modernization_Act_of_2000
By the way, it is interesting to read the comments left on the article linked to by this post. For the most part, the comments are clearly made by people with no understanding of the issue.
AntwortenLöschenThat sudden drop in price was due to a drop in demand due to the economic meltdown. As the economy began to recover, it returned to what had been a normal range of fluctuation. No doubt the demand drop had been partly a fear/panic reaction to the unknown severity of the recession that was unfolding at the time. It was certainly not a means anyone would choose to lower gas prices, nor would such a drop be achievable any other way.
AntwortenLöschenI have seen rightwingers try to use that low price as a base to criticize the President for "causing" high prices. Ridiculous.
I would like to see speculation curtailed, just on principle, but though it surely causes fluctuations, the important question is whether it raises the AVERAGE price over time. It may be that supply and demand, and what the oil refiners consider to be a desirable profit per gallon, are the main determinants.
We're less dependent on imported oil now than we were 3 years ago. That comes from more efficient use and transitioning to better energy sources, and we're just getting started on that. World oil market prices are going to steadily, on the average, increase from now on, until world demand starts to go down from widespread switching to renewable energy.
No amount of environment-despoiling increased drilling is going to significantly affect prices. It will continue to get harder to find and more expensive to extract, and eventually the total supply will start to decline. If we have not reduced our demand enough by that time, prices will soar to the point of unaffordability.
Rather than beating a dead dinosaur, we need to accelerate non-fossil energy production and research.
As for the Keystone, I hope that plan stays dead. Canada doesn't want one either, going to its west coast. It should be obvious to anyone that clean water is more important than dirty oil.
Here's an interesting one: Gasoline Prices Are Not Rising, the Dollar Is Falling.
AntwortenLöschenArguably the fault lies with the bank bailouts (hence Bush), rather than Obama, but the thesis that big O is the cause is at least plausible. Generally, though, we credit (and blame) politicians for too much.
But the economy did not begin to recovery. The economy has not even recover now, only marginally better than at the end of 2011.
AntwortenLöschenLooking at the price of gas in $ or £ or euros is short-sighted. We need to look at the price of gas/energy in terms of the environment. The BP oil spill of 2010 is an example of the cost of oil. Many people have reasonable fears regarding the environmental cost of the Keystone pipeline.
AntwortenLöschenReading the everyday blogs of my UK friends I see that they do a good deal of walking. Or bicycling. Or using public transportation. For much of the world, and even in the SUV addicted US, this would go a long way to reducing the need for oil.
Look at environmental impact. Look at reducing use. As well as the factors pointed out by other posters here.
This has been a very useful exercise. The question "who's to blame for high oil prices" has elicited some very lengthy and long winded results. All with some truth and reason while at the same time absolving Liberal ICON Obama of any wrong doing whatsoever.
AntwortenLöschenYou same people gave a very different response to the same question during the last administration. It went something like this; "Bush and Cheney are oil men with ties to big oil. Prices are artificially high so they can line the pockets of their friends in the oil industry. Once they are gone prices will drop."
Question: Bush and Cheney are gone and yet prices have actually increased. Why is that? Was the left wrong? Can that be?
For the record, I only partially blame Obama for gas prices. He has cut domestic production by 13% - that does not help. He also has blocked the building of several new pipelines that would increase domestic production and ease prices. However, most of the blame for high prices can be blames on the global economy and the increase in demand in China and India. Opec has been reluctant to increase production thus driving up prices at the pump.
That is just my take on it.
Now that Bush and Cheney are out of office the left actually has to think about these issues rather than throwing out complete nonsense and conspiracy theories about "Bush and Big oil."
It's a nice change actually.
Name one person who said that.
AntwortenLöschenI never said anything like that. My position has been consistent. Who is "you same people"?
AntwortenLöschenHe's hallucinating or listening to Right-wing talkers.
AntwortenLöschenWe had a lot of reasons to hate Bush/Cheney, and i think the motivations for their evil went far beyond their ties to big oil, and caused far more harm than high gas prices.
Just as now, i don't get that exercised over gas prices... not at these levels. Maybe if American would get over their fetish for big honking Gas guzzling SUVs and trucks.
I'm still making out with the same gas budget i've had for the last 6 - 8 years.
It's why i was even MORE furious about their wars for oil.
Liberals in the 1990's "Gas Prices are high because of Bush & Cheney's ties to big oil. They want to drive up prices to hurt the american people. They want to make their friends rich."
AntwortenLöschenBUSH & CHENEY LEAVE OFFICE - OBAMA IS PRESIDENT - GAS IS EVEN HIGHER THAN UNDER BUSH
Liberals in the 2000's "You can't blame Obama at all for high gas prices. Here let me spin for ten minutes on the global economy and other things to try to put the blame somewhere else. Can I still blame bush?"
It's just really funny how shallow liberals are. Really liberals? Gas prices were high under Bush because he was trying to get his oil buddies richer? That's it?
Hilarious.
Proof... LINKS, please.
AntwortenLöschenYour projections and hallucinations are not evidence that support your assertions.
They are logical assumptions for you to make as a Con, but we HERE are telling you it wasn't said by US.
this sounds so much like the Liberals spit on returning Vietnam vets myth.