Obama Talks About Gas Prices, Energy
President Obama jogged up the stairs leading to the stage where he
spoke at the University of Miami on Thursday.
By MARK LANDLERNYTimes Published: February 23, 2012
MIAMI — President Obama, confronted by the political perils of surging
gas prices in an election year, on Thursday defended his efforts to
wean the United States off imported oil, even as he conceded there was
little he could do in the short run to ease the pain at the pump.
Enlarge This Image
Doug Mills/The New York Times
President Obama discussed gas prices and energy policy during his address.
Speaking to students at the University of Miami, in a swing state
where gas averages $3.69 a gallon, Mr. Obama said: "Just like last
year, gas prices are climbing across the country; this time, it's
happening even earlier. And when gas prices go up, it hurts
everybody."
The president offered what he called an "all-of-the-above" response,
based on more domestic oil production, development of alternative
energy sources and stricter fuel-efficiency standards.
Drawing a sharp contrast with Republicans and anticipating potential
attacks on the campaign trail, Mr. Obama ridiculed his opponents for
recycling a "three-point plan for $2 gas."
"Step one is to drill, and step two is to drill, and then step three
is to keep drilling," he said.
This was the president's first major effort to tackle an issue that
has surfaced in the last few weeks as oil prices have been driven up
by tensions in the Middle East, where Iran has threatened to retaliate
against the West because of sanctions over its nuclear program.
Mr. Obama seemed keenly aware of the risk posed by oil prices. A
previous cycle of price increases played briefly to the benefit of
Senator John McCain during the 2008 campaign, when his running mate,
Sarah Palin, revved up crowds with the chant, "drill, baby, drill."
The president said that the United States is producing more oil now
than at any time during the last eight years, with a record number of
rigs pumping. The White House, he said, was prepared to open new areas
in the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to exploration.
But Mr. Obama warned that no amount of domestic production could
offset the broader forces driving up gas prices, chief among them
Middle East instability and the ravenous energy appetite of China,
which he said added 10 million cars in 2010.
"Anybody who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem
doesn't know what they're talking about, or just isn't telling you the
truth," he said to whoops from the crowd of nearly 1,500.
Mr. Obama's remarks, tinged with humor and sarcasm, were bluntly
political, on a trip that included fund-raising events in Miami and
Orlando. But his message was sober: neither he nor anyone else can do
much about oil prices, which he said were likely to keep rising.
The White House contends that the public has grown accustomed to these
periodic spikes and will credit him for speaking honestly about the
underlying economic realities rather than offering "gimmicky" fixes —
something he eschewed in 2008.
Still, with gasoline prices nationally about 12 percent higher than a
year ago, Democratic political analysts believe Mr. Obama needs to get
ahead of the issue quickly. Newt Gingrich, for example promised this
week to bring gas down to $2.50 a gallon.
"Four dollars per gallon has typically been the tipping point when
people go from complacency to exasperation," said Geoff Garin, a
Democratic pollster, who notes that people have begun mentioning gas
prices with increasing urgency in his focus groups.
Gas prices did not figure prominently in the Republican debate on
Wednesday in Arizona, where the candidates trained most of their fire
on one another. But Republicans in Congress criticized Mr. Obama for
not opening more federal land to exploration, and for not approving
the Keystone XL pipeline.
"The president would like everyone to forget that gas prices have
doubled over the past three years while he consistently blocked and
slowed the production of American-made energy," a spokesman for House
Speaker John A. Boehner, Brendan Buck, said in a statement.
Even Mr. Obama, they noted, once referred to his "all-of-the-above"
policy as a "hodgepodge."
Among Mr. Obama's proposals are opening 75 percent of the nation's
offshore oil and natural gas resources by 2017; fuel-economy and
emissions standards for trucks, vans and buses; and an administration
effort to prevent bottlenecks in the oil market.
Michael Levi, an energy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations,
said, "Any effective energy policy is almost inevitably going to be a
hodgepodge." He credited the president with stimulating production,
though he said the rejection of Keystone sent a weak signal.
The American Petroleum Institute, the industry's lobbying group, said
Mr. Obama had restricted opportunities to produce more oil by
shortening leases and slowing permit approvals.
The president fired back, repeating his demand that Congress end
subsidies for the oil and gas industries.
"It's outrageous," he said. "Every politician who's been fighting to
keep these subsidies in place should explain to the American people
why the oil industry needs more of their money."
None of Mr. Obama's proposals were new, and some were aspirational. He
said gasoline and diesel produced from algae could replace up to 17
percent of imported oil. But experts say such fuel is a long way from
being commercially viable on that scale.
Joking that he once bought a car for $500, Mr. Obama said that because
of new fuel-economy standards, new cars will average nearly 55 miles
per gallon by the middle of the next decade.
Mr. Obama struck his own inadvertent blow for fuel economy, by flying
to Florida on a Boeing 757 rather than a 747. The bigger 747, which
usually serves as Air Force One, was in the shop.
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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