'War on Fossil Fuel': Biden Says Painful Gas Prices Are Part of 'Incredible Transition' to Green Energy, 'God Willing'

President Biden is coming under heavy fire for appearing to praise the painfully high gas prices that are hurting American families, calling it part of an "incredible transition" away from fossil fuels.

The average national gasoline price in the U.S. is now a record high of $4.59 per gallon, up a painful 50%-plus from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association. Some states are seeing prices jump even higher. On Monday, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in California topped $6.06, higher than Alaska at $5.19 a gallon, and Hawaii at $5.33. 

During a visit to Japan, Biden spoke at a press conference saying, "When it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it's over, we'll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over."

In the same response, Biden said he grew up in a home where gas prices were talked about around the dinner table, and he thinks the steps he's taking can help relieve some of the crushing burden of inflation that Americans are enduring.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

But Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) says that's not true. "One of the reasons gasoline costs so much right now is, the Biden administration has waged a war on fossil fuel," Cotton said in an interview with Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures. 

"This is not an accident. This is what Joe Biden promised in the campaign. This is what far-left members of the Democratic Caucus and Congress want. They want gas to cost $5, $6, $7 a gallon, because they want you out of your pickup truck or your minivan or your SUV, driving electric cars, or taking subways and trains to work," the Arkansas senator said.

"This is their intended goal. This is not an accident. What we should be doing is encouraging investors and industry to create more oil and gas and fossil fuel energy in America," he continued.

"These things take billions of dollars in investment and years to bring online, whether you're talking about oil and gas wells or pipelines or export facilities. And if the administration makes it clear that they are hostile to those investments, then it's not surprising that people are spending less money in the industry and therefore producing less oil and gas driving up your price at the pump."

Candidate Biden Promised to 'End Fossil Fuel' 

As CBN News has reported, Biden has made no secret of his goal to terminate the oil and gas industry. 

In one 2020 campaign appearance, Biden told a young supporter, "I want you to look at my eyes. I guarantee, I guarantee we're gonna end fossil fuel."

And during a 2020 debate with Donald Trump, Biden pledged, "No more subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period."

Meanwhile, the conservative organization FreedomWorks took aim at Biden's gas price comment, encouraging Americans to, "Enjoy this 'incredible transition'."

A FreedomWorks commentator says, "I'm sure that when everyday Americans wake up, and go to work and they fill up their car, that this 'incredible transition' is just a party and a half."