President George W. Bush made a few final statements before boarding his plane for a trip to Europe on Monday. With gas prices escalating over the weekend, the President said his office is pushing for solutions that will lesson the supply-and-demand imbalance that is now occurring in the energy sector.

“We'll remind our friends and allies overseas that we're all too dependent on hydrocarbons,” Bush said. “We must work to advance technologies to help us become less dependent on hydrocarbons. I'll also remind them, though, that the United States has an opportunity to help increase the supply of oil on the market, therefore, taking pressure off gasoline for hardworking Americans, and that I've proposed to the Congress that they open up ANWR, open up the Continental Shelf, and give this country a chance to help us through this difficult period by finding more supplies of crude oil, which will take the pressure off the price of gasoline.”

CEOs for Cities, a group composed of civil, corporate, nonprofit and academic leaders, discussed the possibility, in a report earlier this year, that gas prices may have played a role in escalating the foreclosure and housing crisis. The report titled, “Driven to the Brink: How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs,” suggests home values dropped the most in far-reaching suburban areas, where homeowners are dealing with longer commutes and paying more for their daily transportation. Kerri Panchuk | 06.09.08