Will More Drilling Lower Gas Prices?

If you've filled up your gas tank lately you know we're in a serious crisis. Prices at the pump are at near-record levels and aren't expected to fall for another month or two.

Many pundits attribute this spike to the Democracy Spring across the Middle East and the fears that uncertainty in the region could lead to a choked-off supply of crude.

But Washington Examiner columnist David Limbaugh sees a very different gremlin at work here, namely, President Obama. In a searing column condemning the White House's energy policy, Limbaugh (yes, he's the younger brother of Rush) argues that Obama is getting a pass from the same liberal media that excoriated former President George W. Bush for rising gas prices under his watch.

"Or could it be that they aren't critical because they share his bias against conventional energy and believe the pain caused by his policies is necessary to move us toward alternative energy sources?" Limbaugh wondered.

According to Limbaugh, when gas prices went up during Bush's second term, the failed former Texas oil man took "proactive steps" to increase supply and reduce prices, while Obama has "taken action to impede conventional energy sources and shove us into alternative ones … Obama told us he would bankrupt the coal industry. He's pushing high-speed rail down our throats despite the lack of public demand for it and our inability to finance it."

Limbaugh wonders why there aren't calls for investigations into these comments and others, including one from Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who he quotes as saying, "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."

He suspects the president's goal is to suppress or shut down the existing oil infrastructure in the U.S. in pursuit of alternative energy priorities, though, so far, Obama's push for high-speed rail and increased alternative energy avenues have mostly fallen victim to budget battles and GOP stonewalling.

The solution is, of course, drill, baby, drill.

Open more coastal waters for exploration, lift the seven-year ban on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Though experts have said those areas are not thought to contain enough reserves to solve our long-term energy crisis and that it could take a decade or more to actually see that drilling bear black gold, Limbaugh said Obama's "crippling policies" are having a ripple effect on the many vendors, suppliers and restaurants that help fuel the domestic oil industry.

The bottom line, though, is that despite the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history last year with the BP spill, Americans like Limbaugh, and his brother, are more concerned about rising gas prices than environmental damage.

"Obama is no less determined to cram his preferred energy alternatives down Americans' throats than he was to force-feed us socialized medicine. Again, where is the outrage?" Limbaugh wondered.

Do you agree that more drilling is the answer?