White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to a question on Friday about rising fuel prices across the U.S. by saying that the surge in cost made an even stronger case for the administration doubling down on its energy agenda.
“Look, our view is that the rise in gas prices over the long term makes an even stronger case for doubling down our investment and our focus on clean energy options so that we are not relying on the fluctuations and OPEC and their willingness to put more supply and meet the demand in the market,” Psaki responded. “That’s our view.”
“We feel that — but we also feel that there are a number of actors here, including price gouging, that we have concerns and we’ve seen out there — we feel we’ve seen; we’ve asked the FTC to look into the need for OPEC to release more — that are the larger issues here and that’s why we’ve been focused on those options,” she claimed.
WATCH:
Jen Psaki says “the rise in gas prices over the long term makes an even stronger case for doubling down on" radical green energy policies. pic.twitter.com/8WYpqbFLBE
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TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED VIA THE WHITE HOUSE:
REPORTER: And then following up on the questions about gas prices again — just kind of taking a step back, there’s some Republicans who have taken this moment where they’ve seen gas prices spike to criticize sort of the administration, big picture. Right? Canceling the Keystone Pipeline, halting leases for — new drilling leases on federal lands, saying that, sort of, the administration’s policies writ large have contributed to the rise in gas prices. What’s your response now to that?
JEN PSAKI, PRESS SECRETARTY: Our response is that, one, we haven’t — we haven’t cancelled existing. There are existing leases that are continuing. And just to be clear, I know you know that —
REPORTER: Sorry. Not new leases.
PSAKI: Not new leases.
REPORTER: You’re right.
PSAKI: But just to be clear — and I know that’s been a criticism — so that’s why I said that — and not an accurate one.
Look, our view is that the rise in gas prices over the long term makes an even stronger case for doubling down our investment and our focus on clean energy options so that we are not relying on the fluctuations and OPEC and their willingness to put more supply and meet the demand in the market. That’s our view.
We feel that — but we also feel that there are a number of actors here, including price gouging, that we have concerns and we’ve seen out there — we feel we’ve seen; we’ve asked the FTC to look into the need for OPEC to release more — that are the larger issues here and that’s why we’ve been focused on those options.
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