If you are a senior on a limited income, you obviously view rising fuel costs as an ominous development. Now, a senior citizen’s advocacy group called the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has called on President Barack Obama to take immediate action to stem gasoline prices that have been on the rise for the past several months.

“The soaring cost of gasoline is having a particularly severe impact on senior citizens, most of whom are on fixed incomes,” says President Dan Weber of the AMAC. “While the average price of gas is currently hovering above $3.10 a gallon, there are many pockets in the nation where prices are fast approaching $4 a gallon. These levels are having a devastating consequence on the lives of older Americans.”

Gasoline prices have risen for seven straight weeks through January, and it is having a significant effect on the lifestyles of seniors in particular. Weber attributes the price increases to failures of government policies that have restricted, rather than encouraged, the discovery and exploitation of new oil resources domestically.

“Gas prices rise and fall based on the availability of future oil supplies. The smaller the anticipated supply, the higher the prices,” says Weber. “Yet, instead of encouraging American exploration and drilling for more oil or opening up the country’s vast reserves, the president has stymied drilling by stopping all future offshore drilling -- no matter how many safeguards are installed.”

AMAC has called on the president to suspend his focus on alternative energy sources and begin concentrating on the abundance of traditional sources this nation has to offer. Weber is also critical of Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, who in the past has called for higher gasoline prices to stem potential global warming.

 

Luigi Fraschini is a Driving Today contributing editor based in Cleveland. He writes frequently about auto safety and other auto-related issues.

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