<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Nancy Pelosi expressed shock and indignation on gas prices in California in a Thursday news conference.</span></span> "It costs a lot of money in California. If you drive around in California and see the cost, you think, 'how could this be?'" the 82-year-old career politician questioned. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Nancy Pelosi SHOCKED by massive spike in gas prices in California:</span></span></p> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">"How could this be?" </span></span><a href="https://t.co/zLvSBcHx4n"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">pic.twitter.com/zLvSBcHx4n</span></span></a> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">— TheBlaze (@theblaze) </span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/1509557950964244488?"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">March 31, 2022</span></span></a></blockquote> <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/california-gas-prices-skyrocket-expert-says-states-fault/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Gas prices</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> in the Los Angeles metropolitan area have inched to six dollars a gallon. </span></span> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">In a stunning lack of self-awareness, Pelosi urged against solving the gas crisis by producing more domestic energy in the same press conference.</span></span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Nancy Pelosi: We cannot “use [high gas prices] as an excuse” to produce more American energy </span></span><a href="https://t.co/txlUvEYVmS"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">pic.twitter.com/txlUvEYVmS</span></span></a></p> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) </span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1509566144293789698?"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">March 31, 2022</span></span></a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">"We cannot allow the fossil fuel industry to use this as an excuse to reverse everything we're doing to save the planet," Pelosi said. </span></span> [firefly_poll] <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">In the same news conference, Pelosi blamed the skyrocketing gas prices on Vladimir Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</span></span> While Putin's invasion has seriously impacted gas prices, costs at the pump were skyrocketing well before the war began in late February. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">.</span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi?"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">@SpeakerPelosi</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">: “We have the Putin Price Hike at the pump … The price of, of oil and gasoline — gas at the pump started going up when he started circling Ukraine … There is very interest [sic] in our caucus in stopping price gouging on the part of the — of the industry." </span></span><a href="https://t.co/VK7c7WHifQ"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">pic.twitter.com/VK7c7WHifQ</span></span></a></p> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) </span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1509568795685396485?"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">March 31, 2022</span></span></a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The upward spike in gas prices began when Biden terminated the construction of the <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/former-keystone-xl-pipeline-worker-tried-warn-biden-administration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keystone XL pipeline</a> just after his inauguration. </span></span> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Biden failed to support the American energy industry's independence, leaving the nation all the more vulnerable to foreign instability in energy markets.</span></span> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Biden also issued an </span></span><a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/peaking-april-2021-oil-gas-drilling-permits-plunged-biden-admin-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">executive order</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> halting new permits to drill on federal lands. </span></span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Biden had gas prices going up since inauguration day. An his alt left jihad on oil and gas left us vulnerable to unstable countries and an event such as the Ukraine war </span></span><a href="https://t.co/zWUmqRNjAk"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">pic.twitter.com/zWUmqRNjAk</span></span></a></p> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">— Rogue1-the Jeff Faria Project (@PatriotsOfMars) </span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/PatriotsOfMars/status/1501312140715700232?"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">March 8, 2022</span></span></a></blockquote> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">As one of the </span></span><a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/watch-pelosi-instantly-becomes-champion-free-market-someone-threatens-120-million-fortune/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">wealthiest</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> members of Congress, Pelosi will be largely unaffected by the exorbitant prices of natural gas. </span></span> On Thursday, Biden announced a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/31/fact-sheet-president-bidens-plan-to-respond-to-putins-price-hike-at-the-pump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mass release of oil</a> from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, passing the buck down the line amid rising criticism for his job performance on the economy. Pelosi's clueless exasperation doesn't suggest she's in a position to offer any positive solutions to pain at the pump. This article appeared originally on <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/">The Western Journal</a>.