Gas prices have hit $3.87 per gallon, the highest ever recorded in March and 30 cents higher than a year ago, but Secretary of Energy Steven Chu thinks he has done an outstanding job at working to keep prices down.
In congressional testimony yesterday, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked Chu if he would give himself an “A minus” on “controlling the cost of gasoline at the pump.”
Chu’s reply (which you can watch above): “The tools we have at our disposal are limited, but I would I say I would give myself a little higher in that since I became Secretary of Energy, I’ve been doing everything I can to get long-term solutions.”
Keep in mind that Chu has been an advocate for higher gas prices. In 2008, he stated, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe” (which are routinely above $8 per gallon). And earlier this year, when asked whether it’s his goal to lower gas prices, Chu said, “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy.”
Though Chu says he’s been doing everything he can to get long term solutions, the facts tell a different story. When it comes to lowering the cost of energy, the Obama Administration has turned its back on domestic energy production, including withdrawing areas offered for 77 oil and gas leases in Utah, canceling lease sales in the Western Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast, delaying exploration off the coast of Alaska, keeping other resource-rich areas off limits, finalizing rules that establish more hurdles to onshore oil and natural gas production on federal lands, and withdrawing 61 oil and natural gas leases in Montana as part of a lawsuit settlement over climate change.
How would you rate Chu’s performance? Weigh in with a comment below.
