No one who paid attention to the 2008 presidential campaign should be surprised by the high cost of gasoline. President  Barack Obama said he would raise energy prices, which is one campaign promise he is actually keeping.

Lee Samelson’s recent letter to the editor in the Minnesota Daily implored readers not to blame Obama for the rising cost of fuel, yet Obama is the one who has said he wants higher prices.

I’m glad that Republicans have, as Samelson put it, “stubbornly refused,” to let the government tell Americans what kind of cars to drive and which light bulbs they can use. These Orwellian ideas are incredibly dangerous when applied to energy policy.

While Obama has said he wants an “all of the above” approach on energy policy, his actions actually reflect more of a “none of the above” approach. He rejected crucial parts of the Keystone Pipeline and his EPA is in the process of shutting down coal plants across the country. Sadly, this is just more of the same from Obama’s political party.

In April 2002, Senate Democrats blocked drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Their justification was that it would take 10 years for the oil to reach the market. Well, it’s 2012, and gas is nearing $5 a gallon in some parts of the country. This month, Senate Democrats voted to stop domestic drilling again.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Elections have consequences; we cannot afford to have a party that is tied to their extreme environmentalist base dictating America’s energy policy.