Pence Talks Gas Prices, Not Insurrection, In Cincinnati

Toledo Blade. Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday blasted the energy policies of President Biden, placing the blame for $5-plus prices at the gasoline pump in his lap and not Russian President Vladamir Putin’s.“The last few days President Biden referred to Mr. Putin's gasoline hike. The truth is gasoline prices had risen more than 50 percent before the first shot was fired in Ukraine,” Mr. Pence said during a roundtable discussion with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine that was hosted by the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program.“Gasoline prices are rising for working families here in Ohio and across America, not because of the war in Ukraine,” he said. “Gasoline prices are rising because of Joe Biden's war on energy, and we must bring the war on energy to an end.”The former vice president spoke at a manufacturing plant in the Queen City as his name was being repeatedly invoked in Washington over former boss Donald Trump's attempts to pressure him into blocking certification of now President Joe Biden's 2020 victory.Pence aides and legal counsel told the congressional committee examining the events of that day at Thursday's hearing and in previous depositions that the vice president never had the authority to reject certification of state results showing the president had lost re-election.Mr. Pence, former governor of neighboring Indiana, refused to answer questions shouted to him by reporters beyond his energy remarks. The substance of the roundtable discussion itself was also off-limits to reporters.The event was promoted to the media by Advancing American Freedom, a conservative Washington-based nonprofit founded by Mr. Pence as he moves toward his own possible 2024 presidential run. A run could put him on a collision course with Mr. Trump's own ambitions.He was also in town to help raise money for Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot at an event with individual ticket prices ranging from $500 to $2,900. Mr. Chabot's newly drawn 1st District straddling Hamilton and Warren counties leans Democratic.“It's extraordinary to think how far we have fallen in such a short period of time....,” Mr. Pence said. “Under the Trump-Pence administration, we unleashed American energy and became a net exporter of energy for the first time in 75 years. But because of the policies of this administration since day one, Americans are now experiencing inflation at a 40-year high.“Gasoline prices have skyrocketed and are now averaging over $5 a gallon..,” he said. “One of the advantages of no longer being vice president is you get to drive your own car. One of the disadvantages is you get to pay for your own gas. I have literally been at the pump.”He blamed Mr. Biden for canceling approval of the Keystone pipeline and rejoining the Paris climate accord while giving a nod to a new gas pipeline between Russia and Europe.Mr. DeWine said the oil and gas industry has invested about $100 billion in Ohio over the last decade.“We really have a great asset in natural gas,” he said. “When you look at Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania — if those three states were a country — we would be third in the production of oil and natural gas in the whole world, right behind the United States and Russia. So it's massive. We like to think, Mr. vice president, it gives us a competitive advantage in regard to attracting industry here.”In reaction to the event, Nolan Rutschilling, managing director of energy policy for the Ohio Environment Council, said wind and solar represent a direct path to energy independence.“We simply cannot drill our way to energy independence or lower gas prices,” he said. “The fossil fuel industry has proved itself too volatile and too corrupt. Fossil fuels are connected to a global market influenced by worldwide supply, demand, and unpredictable events.“Prices are being driven up by greedy oil and gas companies that made record profits in 2021 and are well on their way in 2022 to similar record numbers,” Mr. Rutschilling said.Mr. Pence was testing the political waters in Ohio as a congressional committee — including two Republicans who supported the then-president's impeachment — dissects for the nation the Trump-inspired assault on the U.S. Capitol last year that sought to block the then vice president's constitutional role of certifying Mr. Biden's victory.The committee is looking into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump loyalists overran the U.S. Capitol and had the former vice president and his family scurrying for safety amid chants of “Hang Mike Pence!”The committee is seeking to demonstrate that Mr. Trump had convinced followers that the election had been stolen. He had also been pushing the theory from his attorney, John Eastman, that, at the last possible moment, Mr. Pence could stop the transfer of power and send the election back to states.“Of course, if he doesn't come through I won't like him quite as much,” Mr. Trump told the huge crowd, part of which then marched on and invaded the Capitol.Mr. Pence has since tried to walk a political fine line. He has praised the accomplishments and policies of the Trump administration and his role in it while criticizing the former president's role on that day.Mr. Pence was last in Ohio and Cincinnati about two weeks before the 2020 election. The ticket went on to win Ohio by 8 percentage points for a second time, but this time it was not enough to prevent Mr. Biden from winning the presidency.The industry-friendly roundtable took place at the Enerfab plant off I-75 in Cincinnati. The company provides fabrication, construction, and maintenance services for the chemical, petroleum, utility, and other industries.Click here to view original article.