Energy Cost Rise: A Pledge Obama (Unfortunately) Kept

Inflation: We’ve chastised President Obama many times for failing to live up to promises he made when running for the office. So in fairness, we want to credit him for fulfilling one of them: his pledge to raise energy costs.

In early 2008, candidate Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle that “under my plan … electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”

Obama was referring to his plan to cap greenhouse-gas emissions, which would, among other things, effectively choke off coal as an energy source. He was just as fond of high gasoline prices, telling CNBC in June 2008 — as gas prices shot up to $4 a gallon — that he “would have preferred a gradual adjustment.”

Six years later, and Obama has succeeded.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the energy price index has been higher than the overall Consumer Price Index since December 2010 — 46 straight months and counting.

To say this is a historical anomaly is putting it mildly. Almost without exception, energy prices climbed more slowly than the overall CPI since 1957, the first year in the BLS’ monthly energy price data.

Even in the wake of the “energy crisis,” the energy index barely topped the CPI. And while the 2008 gasoline price spike pushed energy costs up, it lasted for only a short time. When Obama took office, the energy price index was 15% below the overall CPI.

Since then, gasoline prices have been stuck above $3 a gallon while electricity prices climb. In the first half of this year, they jumped 3.2% — the highest on record since 2009.

Why the big reversal? Despite Obama’s alleged “all of the above” energy policy, he’s declared virtual war on conventional energy sources.

Oil production on federal lands has dropped 6%, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Obama continues to block the Keystone XL Pipeline, and he’s planning new smog rules that will dramatically raise the cost of energy production.

The EPA’s greenhouse-gas rules could be the death knell for coal — which generates almost 40% of the nation’s electricity.

So congratulations, Mr. President. You’ve made it that much harder for the economy to grow and for families to make ends meet.

Read the article here.