LANSING, Mich., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said high gas prices, not the 2008 mortgage crisis, was the reason for the recession.
The former Pennsylvania senator was at a campaign event Monday in Lansing, Mich., when he said the economic decline of 2008 was exacerbated by President Obama's policy on domestic energy production after Obama took office in 2009, CNN said.
"We need to look at the situation with gas prices today," Santorum said. "We went into a recession in 2008 because of gasoline prices. The bubble burst in housing because people couldn't pay their mortgages because they were looking at $4 a gallon gasoline."
Santorum then said President Obama wants higher gas prices, The Hill reported. "He actually believes this is a good thing for America, I don't," Santorum said. "We are not here to serve the Earth, but to be stewards of the Earth."
Santorum later clarified his remarks, telling reporters gas prices were a factor in the crisis but not necessarily the cause, CNN said.
