Obama urges patience with higher gas prices
FAIRLESS HILLS, PA. — President Obama on Wednesday urged Americans to be patient with higher prices at the gas pump for now and trust that his administration’s energy policies will eventually tamp down on the soaring costs.
“We can’t afford to continue this kind of being in shock when gas prices go up,” Obama said from a town hall-style meeting of roughly 500 employees at Gamesa Technology Corp., a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Fairless Hills, Pa.
“We’ve got to have a sustained energy policy that is consistent,” he said. “There is no magic formula to driving gas prices down.”
Obama reiterated his energy policy goals of reducing U.S. reliance on foreign oil by a third over the next decade and spurring investments in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. He has called for a doubling of alternative energy use by 2035.
“When you see what happens in the Middle East and suddenly the world oil markets get spooked, ... your gas prices are going to go up,” Obama said on a day when crude oil hit a 30-month high, “The less we import, the more control we have over what goes on at the pump.”
The president urged Americans to be patient — a familiar call from a president whose capstone health care overhaul doesn’t fully kick in until 2014. He said tamping down on gas prices will take years.
“I’m not going to guarantee every challenge is going to go away overnight,” Obama said, welcoming questions from the crowd as he floated back and forth across a small platform, his suit coat draped over a podium and his shirtsleeves rolled up. “It starts [one] step at a time, and then slowly you make progress.”
The president couldn’t resist some campaigning in his first public appearance since announcing his candidacy for re-election, particularly in a battleground state that could prove crucial to his chances of a second term.
“Coming there today I was reminded of what I said right here three years ago ... back when I wasn’t sure I was going to win the election,” he said, referring to his March 2008 campaign visit to the plant. “I am not a perfect man and I am not going to be a perfect president. … [But] I will always tell you where I stand [and] I will be honest.”
He added, “I have kept that promise.” One member of the crowd whistled for the president, and the rest followed suit with applause.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Republicans were blasting Obama’s energy policies as too burdensome on domestic oil production. “We believe the administration hereby has the keys to unlock our domestic energy potential today,” states a letter signed by Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, David Vitter of Louisiana, John Thune of South Dakota and others.
“With recognition of the toll higher energy prices are taking on Americans, we respectfully encourage you to examine the damage these current policies are having on the economy, and to work to reconcile these contradictions.”
