Free Republic

Yesterday the Obama administration announced a delaying tactic which will put off the possibility of new offshore oil drilling on the Atlantic coast for at least five years: The announcement by the Interior Department sets into motion what will be at least a five year environmental survey to determine whether and where oil production might occur.

What a difference a week makes for President Obama, as rising gas prices put more and more pressure on his administration. Last Tuesday at a news conference, the president insisted to Fox News that it was fallacy to think his team was in favor of higher gas prices to wean Americans off fossil fuels. "You think the president of the United States going into reelection wants gas prices to go up higher?" the president asked. "Is that -- is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?" Fast forward to this week, when the president's Energy Secretary...

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama's job approval rating, weighed down by soaring gas prices, has plunged below 50 per cent, giving his political opponents what appears to be an opening in the November election, a new opinion poll showed. The survey by ABC News and The Washington Post indicated that only 46 per cent of Americans now approved of the way Obama is handling his job and 50 per cent disapproved. The situation was a reversal from early February when 50 per cent approved of the president's performance and 46 per cent disapproved. According to the survey, the drop...

CBS News) President Obama on Tuesday scoffed at the notion he wants higher gas prices, as some of his critics claim. Asked about the charge at his first formal White House press conference of the year, Mr. Obama replied to Fox News correspondent Ed Henry's question with a question of his own. "From a political perspective, do you think the president of the United States going into re-election wants gas prices to go up higher? Is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?" Presidents of both parties have historically considered it harder to get votes if...

Gasoline for $5 a gallon? The possibility is hardly far-fetched. With no clear end to tensions with Iran and Syria and rising demand from countries like China, gas prices are already at record highs for the winter months — averaging $4.32 in California and $3.73 a gallon nationally on Wednesday, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. As summer approaches, demand for gasoline rises, typically pushing prices up around 20 cents a gallon. And gas prices could rise another 50 cents a gallon or more, analysts say, if the diplomatic and economic standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions escalates into military...

Finally, after weeks of historically high seasonal gas prices that are squeezing the budgets of millions of Americans, the Obama administration has provided its answer about the fuel's future and relief. Energy Secy. Stephen Chu was asked in a House hearing this week if "the overall goal (of President Obama) is to get our price lower?" Chu replied, "No." He added, "The overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil." Actually, Chu let the administration's real agenda out of the bag back in December of 2008, hours after being named Energy secretary. Raise gas prices high enough to make...

The Energy Department isn’t working to lower gasoline prices directly, Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday after a Republican lawmaker scolded him for his now-infamous 2008 comment that gas prices in the U.S. should be as high as in Europe. Instead, DOE is working to promote alternatives such as biofuels and electric vehicles, Chu told House appropriators during a hearing on DOE’s budget. But Americans need relief now, Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.) said — not high gasoline prices that could eventually push them to alternatives. “I can’t look at motivations. I have to look at results. And under this administration the...

'The American people aren't stupid," thundered President Obama yesterday in Miami, ridiculing Republicans who are blaming him for rising gasoline prices. Let's hope he's right, because not even Forrest Gump could believe the logic of what Mr. Obama is trying to sell. We'd almost feel sorry for Mr. Obama's gas-price predicament if it weren't a case of rough justice. The President has deliberately sought to raise the price of energy throughout the economy via his cap-and-trade agenda. He is now getting his wish, albeit a little too overtly for political comfort. Mr. Obama has also spent three years blaming George...

Gasoline prices could soar as high as $7 a gallon this summer thanks to supply threats stemming from Middle East unrest as well as OPEC policy, says real estate mogul Donald Trump. Iran has already cut off supply to France and to the U.K. to protest sanctions from the west, who accuse Tehran of developing a nuclear weapons program. U.S. military officials have said they feel they can ration with Iran, although fears are growing that Israel may consider a unilateral strike on Iran anyway, which is sending crude oil skyrocketing.

President Barack Obama had sought to delay judgment on the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project for carrying tar sands oil from Alberta in Canada down to the Gulf Coast refineries. Obama realized that this was a wedge issue for the Republicans. The environmentalists, a key component of the Obama coalition, strongly opposed the pipeline because they feared an environmental disaster and objected to the exploitation of tar sands as a source of energy. On the other hand, the pipeline would have created tens of thousands of jobs, a particularly sensitive topic in this year's elections. Additionally, Canadian oil...

COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama has suffered the second embarrassment over oil imports within the space of a week. Brazil, whose offshore deposits of oil were sought by the Obama administration, has signed contracts with China for the product. According to the Washington Times, Brazilian offshore crude may number about 38 billion barrels. Obama went to Brazil last month to put in a bid for the oil, offering loans and other support to develop the oil in an "environmentally responsible matter," The Hill reported at the time. Republicans criticized that initiative, pointing out Obama has placed roadblocks in the way...

The Obama administration is expected to reject the controversial Keystone Pipeline this afternoon, according to Fox News. The State Department is expected to vote against the pipeline this afternoon. Transcanada will however be allowed to reapply with an alternate route going through Nebraska. The administration will be unlikely to approve the pipeline under the timeline for the payroll tax cut extension law which requires a decision by February 21 The project has been extremely controversial for two main reasons. Those in favor of the pipeline point to the 8.5% unemployment rate, and point out that the pipeline could create much-needed...

WASHINGTON - Gas prices are going up. And up. And up. And now, the Energy Department predicts the cost of gasoline this summer will be 40 percent more than last year. In the District of Columbia, the average price of regular unleaded jumped four cents a gallon between Monday and Tuesday. "I think it's all kind of a farce," says driver Kathryn Abate. "Because the oil prices have gone up a little, but not really to the extent that gas prices have. So it's just like a 'predicting' thing which I think is kind of unfair to consumers." The experts...

Gas is well over $4 a gallon in most places in California -- and soaring elsewhere as well. But are such high energy prices good or bad? That should be a stupid question. Yet it is not when the Obama administration has stopped new domestic offshore oil exploration in many American waters, curbed oil leases in the West, and keeps oil-rich areas of Alaska exempt from drilling. Last week, President Obama went to Brazil and declared of that country's new offshore finds: "With the new oil finds off Brazil, President (Dilma) Rousseff has said that Brazil wants to be a...

Is it really any surprise that oil and gas prices are surging toward the record highs we saw in 2008 just prior to the economic collapse? Despite the President’s strange assertions in his press conference last week, his Administration is not a passive observer to the trends that have inflated oil prices to dangerous levels. His war on domestic oil and gas exploration and production has caused us pain at the pump, endangered our already sluggish economic recovery, and threatened our national security. The evidence of the President’s anti-drilling mentality and his culpability in the high gas prices hurting Americans...

New Orleans (AP) -- A federal appeals court has blocked a judge's order requiring regulators to act on several drilling permit applications. The federal government filed court documents earlier this month saying it may have to deny the applications if regulators must make a decision within 30 days as ordered.

Ah, January of 2009. Hope was in the air, but more importantly, gas was under two dollars a gallon. Since then gas prices, have gone up 67 percent and it's an ominously upward trend. Interestingly enough, the Heritage Foundation also took a look at the first 26 months of Bush's presidency -- gas only rose 7 percent during that time frame.

Obama said in 2007: [VIDEO AT SITE] or HERE"It is important for us to send some price signals to change behavior" "It's not going to be painless" He said one of the goals of his Cap and Trade was to ensure no one could build a coal powered plant, or if they did, it would bankrupt them. Now, we're all going bankrupt on rising gas prices: Gasoline prices are up again by double digits in all areas around the country compared to the week before. The national gasoline average is $.77 above the price this time last year. 77...

RUSH: As we pointed out yesterday, 15 stories, negative stories blaming Bush for the gasoline price rise in 2007 and 2008. One story on Obama for every 15 Bush stories. So the question becomes: Will the media ignoring the rise in gas prices be able to keep that from becoming a major factor in people's minds over the economy and Obama's role in it? Remember, now, everything is focused on the reelection in 2012. The regime is looking at 8% unemployment. That's what they're going to get if they could do it. If they can get there by manipulation they...

Complete title: Interior Secretary Says White House Opposes Drilling in Arctic Because It Will Not Lead to Energy Independence VIDEO 2:09 minutes (CNSNews.com) - When asked why the Obama administration opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) given the rising cost of gasoline, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told CNSNews.com that the “drill, baby, drill program” is not going to lead the United States to energy independence. “We don’t believe that you need to drill everywhere and we don’t believe that the 'drill, baby, drill' program is the way that’s going to get us to the energy independence that...