WASHINGTON -- President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to lift its longstanding ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, saying the United States needs to increase its energy production. "There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a statement in the Rose Garden, reported the Associated Press.
(Click here to view a transcript of the President's Rose Garden speech.)
Bush blamed Democratic lawmakers for opposing his energy policies and for high gasoline costs. His proposal echoed a call [image-nocss] by Republican presidential candidate John McCain to open the Continental Shelf for exploration. (Click here for CSP Daily News coverage.)
"Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response," Bush said.
He said that 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. Bush is not lifting the executive order, saying he wants Congress to take the first step. He said he will lift the executive ban once Congress lifts its moratorium.
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 (ANWR) for drilling, lifting restrictions on oil shale production in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity.
While he acknowledged that his new proposals would take years to have a full effect, and that no quick fix exists, 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."
For their part, some lawmakers had their own plan: Legislation that would continue the ban into late 2009. 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.
McCain, meanwhile, said states should be allowed to pursue energy exploration in waters near their coasts and get some of the royalty revenue. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president, opposes lifting the ban on offshore drilling and says that allowing exploration now would not affect gasoline prices for at least five years.
McCain called for reform of the laws governing the oil futures trading market, and drew a standing ovation from his audience Wednesday when he repeated his support for an end to the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling. He favors allowing states to decide whether to explore offshore waters.
That drew a rebuttal from Obama, who said his opponent had switched positions from when he first ran for president in 2000. "I think he continues to find himself being pushed further and further to the right in ways that in my mind don't show a lot of leadership," he said. Obama also said there is "no way that allowing offshore drilling would lower gas prices right now. At best you are looking at five years or more down the road."
The 574 million acres of federal coastal water that are off-limits are believed to hold nearly 18 billion barrels of undiscovered, recoverable oil and 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Department of the Interior. The country each year uses about 7.6 billion barrels of oil and 21 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush also would reiterate his call for giving companies access to oil in the ANWR. McCain has opposed drilling in the refuge, maintaining that the pristine areas in northeastern Alaska should be protected from energy development.
In another development, Florida Governor Charlie Crist has dropped his longstanding support for the federal government's moratorium on offshore drilling and endorsed McCain's proposal to let states decide for themselves. The governor said he reversed his position because of rising fuel prices and states' rights. "I mean, let's face it, the price of gas has gone through the roof, and Florida families are suffering," Crist said. "And my heart bleeds for them."
When Republicans held the majority, the House twice voted to lift the ban, only to have the legislation die in the Senate. The Senate last month by a 56 to 42 vote rejected a GOP energy plan that would have allowed states to avoid the federal ban if they wanted energy development off their coast.
Congress imposed the drilling moratorium in 1981 and has extended it each year since, by prohibiting the Interior Department from spending money on offshore oil or gas leases in virtually all coastal waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico and in some areas off Alaska. President George H.W. Bush issued a parallel executive drilling ban in 1990, which was extended by President Clinton and then by the current president until 2012.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.