Jindal scorches Obama on gas prices

Published Mar 15, 2012 at 9:53 am (Updated Mar 15, 2012)

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Wednesday ripped President Barack Obama over rising gas prices while making an appearance on Fox News' Fox & Friends, saying any of the Republican 2012 candidates will do "so much better" if elected to the White House. "The reality is, gasoline prices have doubled under this president; highest prices for oil and gasoline in 150 years. People used to think it was because of incompetence from the Obama administration on energy—I think it's because of ideology. They're pursuing a radical environmental ideology," Jindal said on the show. Following the show, Politico spoke with Jindal's office to clarify the governor's statement on the historically high prices. As Politico reports, the monthly average retail price of gasoline actually peaked at $4.26 a gallon in inflation-adjusted dollars less than four years ago, in June 2008, prior to the presidential election. It then plummeted to $1.80 a gallon in the next six months during the global financial collapse. Jindal's office tells the news organization the governor was referring to the average price for a barrel of Brent Crude oil in 2011 and the average price of gasoline in 2011, which were the highest annual averages in 150 years. Nonetheless, Politico says the current prices of crude oil and gasoline are lower than the peaks they reached in 2008, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy. You can see a video of Jindal's appearance on Fox & Friends here, and read the Politico coverage of it here.

Today's poll question: Whom do you blame for the rise in gas prices in recent years?