If you’re hoping gas prices might some day drop below $3 per gallon you’re in for a big disappointment, according to an AAA official who testified today before a Senate committee.

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“The days of a national pump price below $3 is probably a thing of the past,” Chris Plaushin, director of federal relations with AAA, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at a hearing on fuel prices.

Plaushin noted that the national average price of gasoline on Jan. 1 was $3.29 per gallon, the highest-ever starting point for a year.

That record high came despite a domestic production boost that “continues to surpass even the most optimistic forecasts of recent years,” said Adam Sieminski, who runs the federal Energy Information Administration.

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Of course Democrats blamed domestic refineries, as they always do. But Velero’s CEO blamed it on the federal renewable fuel standard.

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Witnesses said infrastructure alone was not at fault, and some fingered the renewable fuel standard as the cause of higher prices.

Klesse said refiners are forced to buy credits for advanced biofuels that haven’t yet reached commercial production to meet the mandate’s blending requirements. He said the price of those credits is rising, resulting in higher pump rices.

“Today the most important thing affecting us is the renewable fuel standard,” Klesse said. “The renewable fuel standard is out of control.”

The oil industry is lobbying Congress to make changes or repeal the federal rule, which requires refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuel into conventional petroleum by 2022. (Read More)

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I’m sure Democrats will completely ignore that little bit of testimony. They like the high prices we’re paying for gas and groceries, as we put corn into our gas tanks.

http://lonelyconservative.com/2013/07/aa...Conservative%29

"Of course Democrats blamed domestic refineries, as they always do. "

All the while working hard to prevent any new ones from being built.