WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Wednesday at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) that the United States has to "get off oil" to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and declared "it should be obvious" that high demand is creating painful gasoline prices, reported the Associated Press.
Bush's assessment was at odds with that from the 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which said before he spoke that it would not put more oil on the global market because crude supplies are plentiful.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil told reporters [image-nocss] in Vienna, Austria, that the problems in the U.S. economy were a key factor in the cartel's decision to hold off on any action. "There is sufficient supply. There's plenty of oil there," he said. OPEC accused the United States of economic "mismanagement" that it said is pushing oil prices to new record highs and rebuffed calls to boost output, laying the blame on the Bush administration.
In his address at WIREC, Bush said, "It should be obvious to you all that the demand is outstripping supply, which causes prices to go up."
During a Middle East trip in January, Bush urged OPEC to increase production and help ease soaring gasoline prices. Bush also said on Tuesday that it's a "mistake to have your biggest customers' economies slowing down as a result of higher energy prices."
The White House said it disagreed with OPEC's decision to rebuff that request, and that the oil-producing nations themselves could be hurt as well. "OPEC should not be shortsighted about the economic impact of its production decisions," White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said, according to AP.
Oil prices surged past $104 a barrel for the first time after the OPEC announcement. Gasoline prices are running over $3 a gallon, and some analysts expect prices to rise to near $4 a gallon as summer driving picks up.
Bush's speech was aimed at touting the administration's efforts to increase the use of renewable energy sources. The president saluted those at the conference for their "commitment to renewable energy," then joked that his travel habits aren't the best contribution. "I probably didn't help today when I rode over in a 20-car motorcade," he said.
Democrats roundly criticized the president's record on energy policy. "The Bush/Cheney administration has paid lip service to renewable energy and backed it up with inadequate and incremental funding support, favored old dirty and unsafe technologies, threatened vetoes of energy bills because they supported renewable energy incentives and mandates, and undermined the science of and the search for solutions to global warming," said a statement from Senate Democrats cited by AP.
Click hereto read the full text of President Bush's comments at WIREC.
Click hereto read the full text of U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman's comments at WIREC.
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.