Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday during an appearance on CNN that he doesn’t want to “have an opinion” on whether or not gas prices will continue to rise as military actions against Iran are starting up once again.
Isn’t the Secretary of Energy supposed to track oil and gas prices and devise ways to reduce them?
Host Dana Bash noted that the “average cost of a gallon of gas this weekend is the highest on record” at $4.13.
Bash then asked, “You said on this show five months ago that high gas prices had peaked, but between not just the Iran war, but the Russia-Ukraine war and the US’ own dwindling reserves, isn’t it possible gas prices could go up even more?”
As if forgetting how to speak, Wright began stammering and finally said, “Well, if you look at—I—look—I don’t want to have an opinion on that.”
“But if you look at the futures market right now, what can you buy gasoline for two months in advance from where we are today? It’s down more than 30 cents a gallon from where it is today,” he added.
“The Trump administration has changed blending requirements for American refiners, which allows them to produce more gasoline, just as demand for gasoline is about to start heading down,” Wright told Bash.
However, those blending requirements haven’t been accepted by all states, some of which are worried about the added pollution that may be caused by the change.
“But the Trump Administration is doing everything we can to drive energy prices down, as we have since the day we arrived in office,” Wright suggested.
“But the Trump Administration is doing everything we can to drive energy prices down, as we have since the day we arrived in office.”
Wright continued to hem and haw.
“Gasoline production is about to go up and demand is about to go down. So if I had to guess, they’re more likely to go down than go up,” he said.
A few minutes later, Bash told Wright, “It sounds like what you‘re saying is Americans are going to have to wait, that diesel prices are going to remain high for a while.”
Hey, that’s of no concern to Secretary Wright or his boss, Donald Trump. They clearly don’t give a damn how much we’re paying at the pump or the fact that high energy prices raise the cost of transporting goods to market, which raises the price of everything from milk to blue jeans.
The Trump administration seems determined to drive this nation into the economic ditch just so the president doesn’t have to admit his war with Iran was a huge mistake.
