Highlighting inflation, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Newsmax that the current hike in gas prices are "intentional" and part of an effort from the Biden administration to get Americans to buy electric vehicles.
Banks says in his "Spicer & Co." appearance that "these policies by the Democrats and [President Joe Biden] are intentional. They want us to pay a lot more gas taxes because they want to change our consumer behavior. They want us to sell our car and buy an electric vehicle. It's all part of the radical climate change agenda."
Data released by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in mid-December showed that "the energy index rose 33.3 percent over the past 12 months with all major energy component indexes increasing sharply. The gasoline index rose 58.1 percent over the last year, its largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1980."
Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box" in August on President Joe Biden's executive order to make electric vehicles half of all new auto sales by 2030, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the United States has "got to act; the transportation sector is the biggest part of our economy emitting greenhouse gases, and cars and trucks are one of the biggest parts of that."
Banks further adds that the gas price hikes are "all part of their radical green new deal, climate change, left-wing agenda, and they're succeeding at it. They're driving up the cost of our of gasoline in this country at rates that are causing people to cancel their family vacations."
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