Washington
21 June 2008
In his weekly radio address, U.S. President George Bush once againurged Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil-and-gasdrilling to increase U.S. energy production. Mr. Bush said Democrats inCongress are blocking his proposals, and, as a result, are partly toblame for high gasoline costs. VOA's Mary Motta has this report fromWashington.
U.S. President George Bush focused on the price of gas in making his case for offshore drilling.
"Thefundamental problem behind high gas prices is that the supply of oilhas not kept up with the rising demand across the world. One obvioussolution is for America to increase our domestic oil production," hesaid.
Earlier this week, President Bush called on the U.S.Congress to lift a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore oil-and-gasdrilling, putting himself in the middle of an election-year debate overenergy policy.
By urging lawmakers to lift the federal ban andinduce coastal states to open up more areas of the outer continentalshelf to exploration, Mr. Bush reinforced a similar proposal by SenatorJohn McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. SenatorBarack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, opposes it.
Inhis radio address Saturday, Mr. Bush stepped up his political rhetoric.Because rising energy costs have become a top issue for voters, Mr.Bush and his fellow Republicans are seeking to portray Democrats asstanding in the way of measures to help lower gasoline prices.
"Iknow Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in thepast," he added. "Now that their opposition has helped drive gasprices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. Ifcongressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess withouttaking action, they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline isnot enough incentive for them to act."
Democratic leaders signaled they would not budge.
RepresentativeNick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia, said Mr. Bush's proposalwill not bring the type of relief Americans need at the gas pump. Hesays oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres of federal landsthey have already leased that have the capacity to nearly double U.S.oil and gas production and cut oil imports by one-third.
"Bigoil is stockpiling these leases as they enjoy record profits, whileAmericans feel the pain at the pump," he noted. "Simply put, we aretelling big oil to use or lose it."
Mr. Bush's move carriespolitical risk, because offshore exploration has faced opposition inFlorida, which will be a battleground in the presidential campaign.Critics of the plan fear it would damage Florida's beaches and driveaway tourists.
Mr. Bush's plan also calls for allowingexploration and drilling in a portion of the 19 million-acre ArcticNational Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and leasing federal lands to mineand extract oil from shale in the Green River Basin of Colorado,Wyoming and Utah.