With Gas Prices Doubling on His Watch, POTUS All-of-the-Above Rhetoric Not Adding Up

The Gas numbers game is a loser, for President Obama, todays Washington Times reports, and its easy to see why.  Gas prices have more than doubled on President Obamas watch, already reaching a record high of $3.94 for the month of April.  While the president has tried to make the case that he supports Republicans all-of-the-above energy policy, his rhetoric is belied by the facts that suggest otherwise.  Heres a by-the-numbers look at how the gap between President Obamas words and actions has driven up gas prices, taken a toll on American families and small businesses and cost jobs: 

• $2.09: Increase in the Average Gas Price Since President Obama Took Office.  The average price for a gallon of gasoline was $1.85 when President Obama took office.   After more than three years of blocking American energy production and rolling out more red tape on energy producers, the average gas price has more than doubled to $3.94. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Accessed 4/5/12)

• $3.94: Record High Gas Price for the Month of April. After climbing higher and faster than ever, gas prices reached $3.94 this week the highest price recorded in April, ABC News reports. 

• 9.3%: Increase in the Average Gas Price Since Last Year.  Gas prices are up an average of 9.3 percent compared to this week last year, when the average price was $3.68 per gallon. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Accessed 4/5/12)

• 10: Number of States Struggling with Gas Prices Higher than $4 Per Gallon.  According to the most recentAAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report, there are already 10 states struggling with gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon, and an additional 13 states within a dime of $4 per gallon gas. 

• 14%: Drop In Oil Production on Federal Lands.  The Obama Administrations Energy Information Administration recently confirmed that from 2010 to 2011, federal oil production fell by 14 percent, the House Natural Resources Committee reports. 

• 11%: Drop in Natural Gas Production on Federal Lands.  The Natural Resources Committee also notes that natural gas production on federal land has declined 11 percent from 2010 to 2011. 

• 65%: Americans Disapproving of the Way President Obama Is Handling Rising Gas Prices. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post survey, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the situation at the pump, where rising prices have already hit hard. Most Americans say higher prices are already taking a toll on family finances, and nearly half say they think that prices will continue to rise, and stay high.

• 71%: Americans Experiencing Financial Hardship Due to Rising Gas Prices. A recent CNN/ORC International survey found that seven in ten Americans said rising prices have caused hardship for them and their families, with nearly half saying the prices will rise to five dollars a gallon some time this year.

• 97%: Area of the Outer Continental Shelf Off Limits to More American Energy Production Under the Obama Administration. In November of last year, the Obama administration issued a draft plan that imposes a five-year moratorium on the most energy-rich areas of the United States.  According to a Townhall report, The Obama Administrations recent offshore drilling plan codifies the White Houses anti-energy, anti-jobs position. The Obama 2012-2017 draft drilling plan closes a majority of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to new energy production. In fact, less than 3 percent of Americas OCS will be available for development.

• $45 Billion: Tax Hike on American Energy Production in the Presidents Budget. According to the Natural Resources Committee, President Obamas Fiscal Year 2013 budget requests increase taxes by $45 billion for American energy production.

• 180,000: Number of Jobs Put in Jeopardy by New Obama Administration Energy Regulations.  Speaker Boehner recently wrote to President Obama urging him to reconsider a host of excessive new energy regulations that will cost an estimated 180,000 jobs and shut down 12 percent of Americas coal-fired energy production.  Across the United Sates, the Obama administrations onslaught of excessive new regulations is already putting energy plants out of business, and more Americans out of the job. 

• Nearly 1.2 Million: Number of New Jobs Blocked by President Obamas Moratorium on Outer Continental Shelf Energy [OCS] Production.  Louisiana State University professor Dr. Joseph R. Mason estimates that an increase in energy production on the OCS would create an estimated 1.19 million new American jobs.

House Republicans have passed nearly 30 bills as part of the Plan for Americas Job Creators and American Energy Initiative that would unlock Americas resources to help address soaring gas prices and create American jobs.  If the president is serious about showing the American people his all-of-the-above rhetoric is more about policy than politics, he should call on Senate Democrats to act on these bills so they can be enacted immediately.  Follow the progress of these bipartisan, House-passed jobs bills at jobs.gop.gov, and like the American Energy Initiative on Facebook to learn more about Republicans ongoing effort to help relieve the pain at the pump.