$2.5 million ad targets U.S. energy policy WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- U.S. consumers can no longer afford the cost of White House energy policies as costs continue to skyrocket, the American Energy Alliance said. The AEA launched a 30-second television ad claiming U.S. President Barack Obama's reluctance to open more areas for oil and natural gas exploration and his decision to strike down legislation fast-tracking the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline is the reason for rising energy costs in the United States. "The failed policies of the Obama administration are laid bare by the rising cost of energy in America, despite the fact that we have 200 years of domestic oil supply to meet our current needs without imports," AEA President Thomas Pyle said in a statement. The television ad features a 2008 statement from U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu telling The Wall Street Journal he wanted to "boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." The Journal's report at the time suggested Chu was advocating a way to convince consumers to use more energy-efficient vehicles. Europeans pay the equivalent of around $10 for a gallon of gasoline compared with around $4 in the United States. AEA spent $2.5 million to run the 30-second ad for two weeks in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan, key battleground states in the U.S. presidential election. Obama's administration claims domestic oil and natural gas production is at historic highs, though his critics claim polices enacted by the previous administration are the reason for the increase. Gasoline prices are linked to global crude oil prices. Analysts say tensions with Iran are in part to blame for rising energy prices.