In a January 18 editorial, The Washington Times wrote that "[i]n recent months, [gas] costs have climbed steadily through $3 and are headed toward four bucks per gallon." The Times blamed President Obama and his policies for the increase in costs, claiming, “Americans have President Obama and his anti-energy apparatchiks to thank for this gouging.”

In fact, as Media Matters has noted, experts have pointed to expectations of increased demand and other factors to account for the increase in gas and oil prices.

From The Washington Times:

Drivers are getting dizzy at the pump. That sick feeling is deja vu from 2008, when prices spiraled higher with every fill-up. In recent months, costs have climbed steadily through $3 and are headed toward four bucks per gallon. Americans have President Obama and his anti-energy apparatchiks to thank for this gouging.

The cost of crude oil neared $100 a barrel last week for the first time since the global recession knocked it down from a stratospheric $147 a barrel in 2008 to $40 in 2009. Gas now is selling for an average of $3.09 a gallon nationwide, 12 percent higher than a year ago and up 4 percent in the last month. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported last week that forecast uncertainties could mean that Americans end up paying $3.50 a gallon during the summer, and $4 is possible.

[...]

Instead of defending American interests, Mr. Obama's team has taken every opportunity to disrupt the nation's own oil-production capabilities. Upon taking office, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar immediately canceled 77 existing oil- and gas-drilling leases in Utah, and a year later killed an additional 61 leases. He moved quickly to obstruct offshore drilling by extending by six months the public comment period on the resumption of drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.