Donald Trump's Easy Gas Price Plan Is A Flop

Donald Trump claimed on Fox News today that high gas prices “could be settled so easily” by extracting more of the oil and gas “under our beautiful feet.” Experts, on the other hand, say that more domestic drilling won't protect against inevitable price spikes.

On Fox & Friends this morning, Trump suggested that we have enough oil to “solve” high gas prices, but “we're not allowed to go get it”:

In fact, U.S. oil production is currently at an eight-year high. But economists and energy analysts from across the political spectrum agree that domestic production has little impact on gas prices, which are set on the world market. TIME's Bryan Walsh explained

Here's the reality: even if the President opened up every coastline and every available square mile of the country to drilling -- which the American public would almost certainly never allow -- U.S. oil production would still just be a small part in the overall bucket of global oil demand. And we would still pay that expensive global price.

The long-term solution to high gas prices is not increasing production, but decreasing demand. The Obama administration is doing just that by investing in electric vehicles and strengthening fuel economy standards, which will lead to "immediate and substantial" consumer savings at the gas pump. 

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has been criticized for promoting an energy plan that focuses almost exclusively on developing fossil fuel resources, and "does nothing to address" oil consumption.

Trump may support Romney's plan to open up our wilderness areas and wildlife refuges to drilling, but he's doesn't want to subject every beautiful place to energy development. He opposes an offshore wind farm, which he “fears will spoil the view at his exclusive new $1.2 billion golf resort,” according to the Associated Press.