Bush urges Congress to end offshore oil drill ban
Written on June 19, 2008
President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Congress to end a ban on offshore oil drilling, seeking to address rising consumer angst over record-high gasoline prices with a plan sure to anger environmentalists.
“Every American who drives to work, purchases food or ships a product has felt the effect, and families across the country are looking to Washington for a response,” Bush said.
As average U.S. pump prices pierced the $4-a-gallon level for the first time this month, energy policy has become a key issue in the presidential race ahead of November elections.
Bush said opening federal lands off the U.S. east and west coasts — where oil drilling has been banned by both an executive order and a congressional moratorium since the early 1990s — could yield about 18 billion barrels of oil.
That’s enough to meet current U.S first cash advance. consumption for about 2 1/2 years, but it likely would take a decade or more to find the oil and produce it.
Bush’s latest drilling plan comes as lawmakers on Capitol Hill wage a war of words over who is to blame for record-high gasoline prices.
Republicans and Bush have repeatedly blamed Democrats for blocking legislation that opens offshore lands and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling.
“Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal, and now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction,” Bush said.
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