(CNSNews.com) - “The Democratic leaders in Congress will not allow us to explore for oil and gas in parts of Alaska, offshore America, and now is the time for them to change their mind,” President Bush said at the conclusion of the G-8 summit in Japan on Wednesday.
Bush, in his concluding statement on the summit, said he firmly believes that oil exploration can be done in “environmentally friendly ways.”
High energy prices were among the major topics of discussion at the summit of the world’s leading industrialized nations.
According to President Bush, the G-8 leaders agreed that to bring oil prices down, both supply and demand must be addressed:
“On the supply side, oil and production refining capacity need to be increased,” Bush said. “On the demand side, we agreed to take new steps to increase energy efficiency, and we agreed that fuel subsidies that artificially inflate demand should be eliminated or reduced.”
Bush made the comments one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the president, urging him to “use your authority as President to draw down a small portion of the oil held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to expand available supplies and help reduce the record prices that are helping push the economy toward recession.”
Pelosi noted that oil prices have increased from less than $30 a barrel to a record high of nearly $150 a barrel “since your administration took office.”
Republicans note that oil prices have more than doubled since Pelosi herself took over the speaker’s office, promising that “Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices…”
On the contrary, oil and gasoline prices have soared 75 percent since Democrats took control of Congress, Republican leaders say. They call it the “Pelosi premium.”
In her July 8 letter to Bush, Pelosi insisted that tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is “more than justified” by the “destabilizing impact” that gasoline price increases are having on the economy.
She noted that Bush himself tapped the SPR in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help reduce crude oil prices. Both Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush also tapped the SPR once each.
“Releasing oil from the Reserve is a tool to manage our national and economic security, and when judiciously used will in no way jeopardize national security,” Pelosi said. “The Reserve is currently 97 percent full -- the highest level ever -- with enough oil to meet our national security needs.”
Pelosi said using a “small portion” of the reserves “would provide much needed assistance to American consumers facing record prices and help our economy during a
serious period of instability.”
Yes, boost supply, Republicans say
House Republican leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) found it interesting that Pelosi is calling for President Bush to release oil supplies from the SPR: In doing so, she’s admitting that increasing the supply of oil will help reduce the price of gasoline, Boehner said.
“I agree that more supply is necessary, and so do my House Republican colleagues who have been arguing for decades in favor of more American energy production,” Boehner continued. “Until the Speaker and her colleagues in the liberal Democratic leadership of Congress unlock our nation’s vast natural energy resources, consumers will continue to see skyrocketing prices at the pump.”
House Republicans are calling for an “all-of-the-above” energy plan that increases production of American energy, encourages conservation, and promotes alternative fuels.
Republicans say Democrats are too beholden to their environmental allies to allow American energy production.
“In poll after poll, Americans are saying ‘enough is enough’ and demanding more production of American energy,” Boehner said. “Today’s proposal by Speaker Pelosi is another acknowledgment that we must do more to increase our energy supply, and House Republicans will continue pushing Democratic leaders to act on real reforms on behalf of the American people.”