Bush pushes Congress to ramp up energy exploration, including ANWR
Published Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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Stumble It!WASHINGTON — With gasoline topping $4 a gallon, President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, as well as on drilling in an Arctic refuge, saying the United States needs to increase its energy production. Democrats quickly rejected the idea.
“There is no excuse for delay,” the president said in a statement in the Rose Garden. With the presidential election just months away, Bush made a pointed attack on Democrats, accusing them of obstructing his energy proposals and blaming them for high gasoline costs. His proposal echoed a call by Republican presidential candidate John McCain to open the Continental Shelf for exploration
“Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response,” Bush said.
Congressional Democrats were quick to reject the push for lifting the drilling moratorium, saying oil companies already have 68 million acres offshore waters under lease that are not being developed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Bush’s proposals “another page from (an)... energy policy that was literally written by the oil industry — give away more public resources.”
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, rejected lifting the drilling moratorium that has been supported by a succession of presidents for nearly two decades.
“This is not something that’s going to give consumers short-term relief and it is not a long-term solution to our problems with fossil fuels generally and oil in particular,” said Obama. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, lumping Bush with McCain, accused them of staging a “cynical campaign ploy” that won’t help lower energy prices.
“Despite what President Bush, John McCain and their friends in the oil industry claim, we cannot drill our way out of this problem,” Reid said. “The math is simple: America has just three percent of the world’s oil reserves, but Americans use a quarter of its oil.”
White House spokesman Tony Fratto retorted: “Anyone out there saying that something can be done overnight, or in a matter of months, to deal with high gasoline prices is trying to fool people. There is no tool in the toolbox out there that will lower gas prices overnight, or in weeks, or probably not even in months.”
Bush said offshore drilling could yield up to 18 billion barrels of oil over time, although it would take years for production to start. Bush also said offshore drilling would take pressure off prices over time.
There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order signed by Bush’s father in 1990. Bush’s brother, Jeb, fiercely opposed offshore drilling when he was governor of Florida. What the president now proposes would rescind his father’s decision — but the president took the position that Congress has to act first and then he would follow behind.
Asked why Bush doesn’t act first and lift the ban, Keith Hennessey, the director of the president’s economic council, said: “He thinks that probably the most productive way to work with this Congress is to try to do it in tandem.”
Before Bush spoke, the House Appropriations Committee postponed a vote it had scheduled for Wednesday on legislation doing the opposite of what the president asked — extending Congress’ ban on offshore drilling. Lawmakers said they wanted to focus on a disaster relief bill for the battered Midwest.
Bush also proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, lifting restrictions on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity.
With Americans deeply pessimistic about the economy, Bush tried to put on the onus on Congress. He acknowledged that his new proposals would take years to have a full effect, hardly the type of news that will help drivers at the gas stations now. The White House says no quick fix exists.
Still, Bush said Congress was obstructing progress — and directly contributing to consumers’ pain at the pump.
“I know the Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past,” Bush said. “Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions.”
Bush said that if congressional leaders head home for their July 4 recess without taking action, they will need to explain why “$4 a gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act. And Americans will rightly ask how high gas prices have to rise before the Democratic-controlled Congress will do something about it.”
Bush said restrictions on offshore drilling have become “outdated and counterproductive.”
In a nod to the environmental arguments against drilling, Bush said technology has come a long way. These days, he said, oil exploration off the coastline can be done in a way that “is out of sight, protects coral reefs and habitats, and protects against oil spills.”
Congressional Democrats, joined by some GOP lawmakers from coastal states, have opposed lifting the prohibition that has barred energy companies from waters along both the East and West coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for 27 years.
On Monday, McCain made lifting the federal ban on offshore oil and gas development a key part of his energy plan. McCain said states should be allowed to pursue energy exploration in waters near their coasts and get some of the royalty revenue.
Obama retorted that the Arizona senator had flip-flopped on that issue.
Community Discussion
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Sen. Reid offers a false choice. Simply because the US does not have more than 3% of the world's known energy reserves has NO relation to the economic benefits gained from supplying as much of our own energy needs as we possibly can.
Every time the American consumer spends a dollar on energy derived from US sources helps create good jobs. It helps our balance of trade. It helps support the dollar and it helps fight inflation.
With all due respect, you can't have it both ways, Senator Reid. You constantly rail about good paying jobs and economic growth. You complain that the average man is hurting from spiking energy costs, but you and your allies continue fight efforts by US companies to explore for energy here on American soil.
Alternative energy technology is popular now is going to keep growing in popularity. More alternative energy innovation will hit the market, but we are a long way away from the day when we can ignore the prominance of oil and natural gas.
I wonder how Bill Clinton feels now, 13 years after his veto prevented drilling in ANWR.
Didn't McCain say he will not drill in ANWR, just recommended off shore. No matter who gets elected President, they are both against drilling in ANWR.
If McCain has “flip-flopped” he sure has done so in an odd way. Normally flip-flopping is done by first pandering to the base during the primaries, then changing position to that of the moderates during the general elections. Arguing against offshore drilling hurt McCain during the primaries as it is against the desires of the right. Perhaps his meeting with Palin simply convinced him that his initial position was wrong.
The country needs to spend more money on hydrogen power and fuel cell technology also. Drilling for oil is a temporary fix, we need long term solutions on top of the band aids. We are sending all of our money over seas to the Saudi's, we need to keep more here. It is crippling our economy.
Could this energy crisis a be a ploy to get ANWR opened? We are scared of the prices rising in gas, food, etc....
I, for one, believe that by lifting both the congressional and presidential ban on off shore exploration and drilling, the MESSAGE that would be sent to foreign oil exporters would ring loud and clear; that America will no longer play their game and is striving to be less dependant on foreign oil, foreign market stipulations and taking a concerted effort to be as energy self-reliant as possible. While there are no quick fixes, this message would bring partial relief on the ever escalating price of a barrel of oil. OPEC nations will get the message and will react almost immediatley. That reaction could be catalyst for some price relief. So, yes, while production wouldn't come to market for years, foreign oil will understand that America will supplement its needs with its own resources instead of being a puppet to foreign countries.
On a side note, should we see the day that our own resources are being explored and brought to market, the time is now to ensure that at least some of the revenues are funneled into alternative and renewable energy programs. We cannot reverse our oil dependancy overnight, but we can assure that future energy needs are being funded through existing traditional resources.
I don't think it is a ploy. When middle class americans are having a hard time financially,it is getting serious. The country is in trouble, we spent too much money on Iraq.
The best reason to increase domestic oil production is for shoring up the U.S. dollar by relieving the trade deficit, for which crude and finished products account for nearly half. It would also help, of course to make draconian cuts to the size/cost of federal government for which our debt must also be financed through the benevolence of foreign fair-weather friends.
The chickens have come home to roost. Decades of debt spending, money supply inflation, and eco-mental NIMBY-ism have brought us to the precipice of what may be a hyperinflationary depression. The only way back to prosperity is through hard work that produces real capital as well as sound investment based upon real savings. For Alaska that means bringing TAPS back up to capacity, as well as getting some kind of a gasline built,...and soon.
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