Obama: No simple solution to gas price increase

US President Barack Obama has warned that there was no easy solution to the soaring gas prices, a challenge currently facing the United States. Gas prices have been steadily increasing, gaining 0.4% to $108.26 in early trading Friday, rising 3.3 cents nationwide overnight to $3.61 a gallon, according to CNN. In Florida, average gasoline prices have risen to $3.69 per gallon. US President Barack Obama has warned that there were no "silver bullets" for bringing gas prices down quickly. In a speech at the University of Miami, Florida, the president defended his energy policy and commitment to clean energy. Obama explained Thursday that his Republican critics promising immediate lower gas prices were either uninformed or dishonest, and he pledged to continue pushing for alternative energy sources. He criticized their three-point plan to "drill our way out of the problem", adding that it would be insufficient without a wider strategy. Addressing the university's students, the US President said that developing a broad-based energy policy incorporating all sources including oil, gas, nuclear, solar, wind and alternatives such as algae would take years but was essential for the nation's future economic well-being. Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Bank, said that events in Iran affect gasoline prices though that impact is typically delayed, trailing the effect on oil. "It shows up almost instantaneously with oil prices, and it doesn't take much longer to show up with gas prices, just a few days," he said. Some experts have said that the US economy could begin to suffer if gas prices rise above $4 per gallon, predicting high relevance of the topic in election days.