Opinion: Gas Prices Are The Government and Obama's Fault
Though most people probably don’t even know who John Hofmeister is, federal politicians know very well who he is and are finding out that he is royally-angered about the current gasoline prices throughout the United States being so incredibly high. He has been going public in the recent past via various television and radio interviews in which he is bluntly telling how he warned President Barack Obama, other politicians, and government officials that the current gas prices – Americans are now subjected to – could have been totally avoided if the Obama administration only would have given his experienced-knowledge a chance.
John Hofmeister is the retired former President of the Shell Oil Company. After retiring in 2008, Hofmeister founded and now runs the not-for-profit association called the Citizens for Affordable Energy. His organization is said to promote viable United States energy security solutions for the United States which includes improvements in efficiency, affordable energy supplies, the necessary essential infrastructure, long-lasting environmental policies, as well as a method to educate the public on energy issues.
In spite of Hofmeister’s highly-respected and tremendously beneficial expertise and organization, he says that he has been totally ignored by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and other politicians and current governmental officials.
According to Hofmeister, he has been well-received by the many businesses – as many as 15,000 – community and civic leaders, and policymakers that he has approached to inform them as to what needs to happen to give Americans affordable energy for the future. Yet, he basically can’t get the time of day from those in Washington, D.C. who could have made a difference – and still won’t consider his options for solving the nation’s fuel-costing crises.
Heard on Red Eye radio this week, Hofmeister said he spoke personally to President Barack Obama four years ago and was given a quick answer about bio-fuel, and then the president walked away from him without even hearing him out. Unfortunately, he had the same results when trying to reason with Vice President Joe Biden and other high-up politicians in the federal government. Hofmeister said he supported Obama’s election bid in 2008 but is definitely not supporting him in 2012, if for no other reason than he is certain that gas prices did not need to double in the past four years as they have under President Barack Obama.
Americans continually hear that the president of the United States can do nothing about gas prices – it is what it is. Hofmeister says that isn’t true. The doubled gas prices could have been avoided but no one in a political position who can do anything about the prices wants to do anything.
Hofmeister is angry – one can hear it in his voice when he’s interviewed – and he wants the nation to know that measures could have been taken – and should have been taken – to avoid the current, incredibly-high gas prices, but the president and his administration would have nothing to do with taking the necessary actions he and his team of experts from Shell Oil tried to offer to avoid the prices Americans are now paying.
About Scott Paulson
Scott Paulson writes political commentary for Examiner.com and teaches English at a community college in the Chicago area. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
