Obama & Nelson Have Consistently Ignored Common Sense Energy Solutions 

With the average price of gasoline at $3.61 a gallon, President Barack Obama – who will be joined by his liberal ally U.S. Senator Bill Nelson – is coming to Miami where they will use the looming energy crisis to campaign for their failed energy policy agenda.

Obama will undoubtedly call for energy independence but it will just be empty campaign rhetoric because while in Washington, he and Senator Nelson have been focused on job-killing energy initiatives like cap-and-trade, instead of common sense solutions that will increase our domestic supply of energy.

Notably, under Barack Obama’s watch, Floridians are now paying an additional $30 to fill up their gas tanks.

“Under the failed economic leadership of Barack Obama and Bill Nelson, Floridians have seen their gas prices rise by $1.78 a gallon in just the last three years,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox.  “Rather than focusing on job-killing energy initiatives like cap-and-trade, Obama and Nelson ought to work on common sense energy solutions that will expand our domestic supply of energy which will ease the pain at the pump.”

BACKGROUND …

While Barack Obama & Bill Nelson Work On Their Job-Killing Cap-And-Trade Legislation 

In March 2009, Nelson Proposed Cap-And-Trade As A Way Of Raising Revenue. NELSON: “Likewise, on the problem of too much carbon dioxide going into the air, you’ve got to get a handle on that, and that is a way of also raising revenue because of the auction of all of those credits in the cap-and-trade kind of legislation.” (Fox News Channel, 3/23/09)

• NELSON: “Likewise, You’re Going To Have To Speed Up The Revenues Coming In From Such Things As Possibly A Cigarette Tax, Possibly — As The Cap-And-Trade — Going Into Climate Control.” (Fox News Channel, 3/23/09)

Nelson Didn’t Refute That Cap-And-Trade Amounts To A Tax. FOX NEWS’ BILL HEMMER: “Some people also call it a cap and tax. It sounds like more taxes. Is that what’s coming our way?” NELSON: “Well, the question is, are we going to stop the Earth from heating up? And you’ve got to do something. And the flip side on the health care, you’re going to have to do something about getting the costs under control on health care.” (Fox News Channel’s, 3/23/09)

In 2008, Nelson Voted To Move Forward With The Boxer Amendment That Would “Cap Greenhouse Gas Emissions Nationwide.” “Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Boxer, D-Calif., substitute amendment no. 4825 that would cap greenhouse gas emissions nationwide and set up a trading system for companies to buy and sell emissions allowances.” (S. 3036, CQ Vote #145: Rejected 48-36: R 7-32; D 39-4; I 2-0, 6/6/08, Nelson Voted Yea)

According To The Heritage Foundation, The Average Annual Cost Of Cap And Trade Legislation On The State Of Florida, Between 2012-2035 Per Year Would Be:

• Gross State Product Lost Per Year: $16.806 Billion
• Personal Income Reduction Per Year: $6.92 Billion.
• Jobs Destroyed Per Year: 66,938
• Electricity Price Hike Per Year: $829.00 Per Household
• Gas Price Hike Per Year: $0.65 Per Gallon. (David Kreutzer, Ph.D., et. al, “Impact of the Waxman-Markey Climate Change Legislation On Florida,” Press Release, 8/19/09)

The Price Of Gas Has Risen By $1.78 A Gallon 

On January 19th, 2009 Gas Was $1.83 A Gallon. (Jay Warren, Fact Check: Allen’s criticism on gas prices, Obama, PolitiFact Virginia, 02/21/12) 

On February 23rd, 2012 Gas Stands At $3.61 A Gallon. (National Average Prices, AAA, 02/22/12)

82 Percentage Point Increase In Miami Alone

Since February 20, 2009, The Average Price For Gallon Of Regular Gas In Miami Has Risen 82%. (McNelly Torres, “Gasoline Heading To $2.50 Or More,” Sun-Sentinel, 2/20/09; AAA Fuel Gauge Report, Accessed 2/22/12)

• On February 20, 2009, “The Average Price In Miami Was At $2.06 For Regular Gas.” (McNelly Torres, “Gasoline Heading To $2.50 Or More,” Sun-Sentinel, 2/20/09)
• Today, The Average Price For Gallon Of Regular Gas In Miami Is $3.743. (AAA Fuel Gauge Report, Accessed 2/22/12) 

Non-Partisan Fact Checks Have Refuted Democrats’ Claims On Energy 

AP Fact Check: In speeches and his first campaign ad, Obama also points to the nation’s reduced dependence on foreign oil. But the energy information agency says that the decline began in 2005 and comes from a variety of factors — among them the recession, high gas prices that dampened driving and changes in efficiency and consumer behavior that pre-date the Obama administration.

USA Today Fact Check: U.S. dependence on foreign oil is below 50% for the first time in 13 years. Oil industry experts quibble with the notion that Obama should get any credit for the declining oil dependence.  Lower imports are the result of lower demand caused by a sluggish economy, and growth in production is largely due to industry’s ability to extract oil from shale rock in North Dakota’s Bakken area, according to Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute.

Factcheck.org: The ad also states, “For the first time in 13 years, our dependence on foreign oil is below 50 percent.” But again, it’s questionable how much credit Obama gets for that. The same Energy Information Administration report cited in the ad concluded that the downward trend began in 2005 and was based on a “variety of factors,” most of them outside Obama’s control.

EIA report, 2011: There is no single explanation for the decline in U.S. oil import dependence since 2005. Rather, the trend results from a variety of factors. Chief among those is a significant contraction in consumption. U.S. oil product deliveries declined by 1.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) to 19.1 bbl/d in 2010, from 20.8 million bbl/d in 2005. This decline partly reflects the downturn in the underlying economy after the financial crisis of 2008. Not surprisingly, demand has bounced back somewhat from a low of 18.8 million bbl/d in 2009, when the U.S. economy bottomed out. But the downward trend in consumption started two years before the 2008 crisis and reflects factors such as changes in efficiency and consumer behavior as well as patterns of economic growth.