NYT: Romney Once Saw Benefit Of Higher Gas Prices

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

April 6, 2012 | 10:00 AM

Scott Detrow / StateImpact Pennsylvania

Mitt Romney campaigns in Wyoming County

Yesterday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney blasted President Obama’s energy policies during a campaign appearance in Wyoming County.
The ever-increasing cost of gasoline has become a regular part of Romney’s stump speech. But as the New York Times reported earlier this week, the former Massachusetts governor used to have more nuanced views on energy policy and gas prices:

In his 2010 book, “No Apology,” Mr. Romney described a gradual increase in the cost of energy as the kind of market-based incentive that conservatives could embrace.
While not suggesting particular policies that might lead to higher prices — like an increase in the gas tax, a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade plan — Mr. Romney praised the benefits that would flow from a slowly increasing cost of energy.
“Higher energy prices would encourage energy efficiency across the full array of American businesses and citizens,” Mr. Romney wrote. “It would provide industries of all kinds with a predictable outlook for energy costs, allowing them to confidently invest in growth.”