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WASHINGTON — President Bush has no “magic wand” to wave away soaring gasoline prices, the White House said Monday, ruling out price controls and offering little hope of a reduction in the federal gas tax. 

Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer also dismissed suggestions that high energy costs should change American lifestyles.  

“That’s a big no,” he told reporters. “It should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life.” 

The nation’s average price of gas, including all grades and taxes, increased 8.58 cents to $1.76 over the last two weeks – with the Midwest and West experiencing the biggest jumps at the pump, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 service stations. Fleischer, peppered with questions about the remote possibility of $3-a-gallon gasoline this summer, said there’s not much a president can do. 

“It’s tantamount to a tax increase on the American people,” he said, “and that’s one reason why it’s so important for the nation to have an energy policy that reflects the challenges the nation is facing.” 

But the White House energy policy, due to be released this month, deals with long-term solutions to supply shortages and won’t ease problems at the pump this summer. Fleischer said Bush is opposed to price controls and has not supported calls to repeal or cut the 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax. 

“The president has not joined that chorus before,” Fleischer said. “I do not rule it out but ... that is not something the president is focused on.” He said reducing the tax would “create havoc” on national road and bridge programs that are funded by the tax. 

Senior White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush expects pressure from Congress to reduce the gas tax, perhaps by rolling back the 4.3-cents-a-gallon increase imposed in 1993. Bush aides are telling lawmakers he doesn’t support the reduction, though they are leaving some wiggle room in case approval of the decrease is critical to passage of his broader energy plans, the officials said. 

“If any politician has a magic wand that they can wave over gas prices to lower them, the president ... would like to listen to them,” Fleischer said. 

“He has never sought a quick fix because quick fixes don’t work,” Fleischer said. “He will resist the siren song of moving from one short-term solution to another.” 

Administration officials say the energy report will include incentives for conservation and the use of alternative fuels, such as nuclear power, but Fleischer said energy policy should not disrupt the lives of Americans. 

“The American people’s use of energy is a reflection of the strength of our economy, of the way of life that the American people have come to enjoy,” he said. “The American way of life is a blessed one, and we have a bounty of resources in this country.” 

The White House has taken a similar little-we-can-do posture as California struggles with electricity shortages. Bush has been criticized in California for his position. 

White House advisers are aware that they will come under pressure if gasoline prices spike nationwide during summer vacations, and are trying to lay the groundwork for Bush’s defense. 

Fleischer said the problem is due to the lack of an energy policy during the last five to 10 years, pointing a finger not only at President Clinton but also the first Bush administration. 

“I picked those years carefully,” Fleischer said. “This is not a matter of partisan politics. This is a matter of a nation that has not had in place an energy policy to deal with the fundamental imbalances in America’s supply and demand.” 

He said Bush will address the lack of refineries and transportation infrastructure, along with conservation measures. “We’ll have a strong conservation statement,” Bush told reporters on Monday. 

But Fleischer conceded that the Bush plan won’t address short-term problems. 

“If politicians keep moving from one quick fix to the other, the nation will never get out of its energy crisis,” he said.