President George W. Bush
Documents & Texts from the White House
18 June 2008
President Bush Discusses Energy
Related:
•
Fact Sheet: Reducing Gas Prices and Foreign Oil Dependence
• Policy Memorandum: American Made Energy
10:30 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I want to thank Secretary Kempthorne and
Secretary Bodman for joining me. For many Americans, there is no more
pressing concern than the price of gasoline. Truckers and farmers and
small business owners have been hit especially hard. Every American who
drives to work, purchases food, or ships a product has felt the effect.
And families across our country are looking to Washington for a response.
High oil prices are at the root of high gasoline prices. And behind those
prices is the basic law of supply and demand. In recent years, the world's
demand for oil has grown dramatically. Meanwhile, the supply of oil has
grown much more slowly. As a result, oil prices have risen sharply, and
that increase has been reflected at American gasoline pumps. Now much of
the oil consumed in America comes from abroad -- that's what's changed
dramatically over the last couple of decades. Some of that energy comes
from unstable regions and unfriendly regimes. This makes us more
vulnerable to supply shocks and price spikes beyond our control -- and that
puts both our economy and our security at risk.
In the long run, the solution is to reduce demand for oil by promoting
alternative energy technologies. My administration has worked with
Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and
hydrogen fuel cells. We've mandated a large expansion in the use of
alternative fuels. We've raised fuel efficiency standards to ambitious new
levels. With all these steps, we are bringing America closer to the day
when we can end our addiction to oil, which will allow us to become better
stewards of the environment.
In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on
oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home.
So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic
oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected
virtually every proposal -- and now Americans are paying the price at the
pump for this obstruction. Congress must face a hard reality: Unless
Members are willing to accept gas prices at today's painful levels -- or
even higher -- our nation must produce more oil. And we must start now.
So this morning, I ask Democratic Congressional leaders to move forward
with four steps to expand American oil and gasoline production.
First, we should expand American oil production by increasing access to the
Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that the OCS could
produce about 18 billion barrels of oil. That would be enough to match
America's current oil production for almost ten years. The problem is that
Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early
1980s. Since then, advances in technology have made it possible to conduct
oil exploration in the OCS that is out of sight, protects coral reefs and
habitats, and protects against oil spills. With these advances -- and a
dramatic increase in oil prices -- congressional restrictions on OCS
exploration have become outdated and counterproductive.
Republicans in Congress have proposed several promising bills that would
lift the legislative ban on oil exploration in the OCS. I call on the
House and the Senate to pass good legislation as soon as possible. This
legislation should give the states the option of opening up OCS resources
off their shores, provide a way for the federal government and states to
share new leasing revenues, and ensure that our environment is protected.
There's also an executive prohibition on exploration in the OCS. When
Congress lifts the legislative ban, I will lift the executive prohibition.
Second, we should expand oil production by tapping into the extraordinary
potential of oil shale. Oil shale is a type of rock that can produce oil
when exposed to heat or other process[es]. In one major deposit -- the
Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming -- there lies the
equivalent of about 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil. That's more
than three times larger than the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. And
it can be fully recovered -- and if it can be fully recovered it would be
equal to more than a century's worth of currently projected oil imports.
For many years, the high cost of extracting oil from shale exceeded the
benefit. But today the calculus is changing. Companies have invested in
technology to make oil shale production more affordable and efficient. And
while the cost of extracting oil from shale is still more than the cost of
traditional production, it is also less than the current market price of
oil. This makes oil shale a highly promising resource.
Unfortunately, Democrats in Congress are standing in the way of further
development. In last year's omnibus spending bill, Democratic leaders
inserted a provision blocking oil shale leasing on federal lands. That
provision can be taken out as easily as it was slipped in -- and Congress
should do so immediately.
Third, we should expand American oil production by permitting exploration
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. When ANWR was created in
1980, Congress specifically reserved a portion for energy development. In
1995, Congress passed legislation allowing oil production in this small
fraction of ANWR's 19 million acres. With a drilling footprint of less
than 2,000 acres -- less than one-tenth of 1 percent of this distant
Alaskan terrain -- America could produce an estimated 10 billion barrels of
oil. That is roughly the equivalent of two decades of imported oil from
Saudi Arabia. Yet my predecessor vetoed this bill.
In the years since, the price of oil has increased seven-fold, and the
price of American gasoline has more than tripled. Meanwhile, scientists
have developed innovative techniques to reach ANWR's oil with virtually no
impact on the land or local wildlife. I urge members of Congress to allow
this remote region to bring enormous benefits to the American people.
And finally, we need to expand and enhance our refining capacity.
Refineries are the critical link between crude oil and the gasoline and
diesel fuel that drivers put in their tanks. With recent changes in the
makeup of our fuel supply, upgrades in our refining capacity are urgently
needed. Yet it has been nearly 30 years since our nation built a new
refinery, and lawsuits and red tape have made it extremely costly to expand
or modify existing refineries. The result is that America now imports
millions of barrels of fully-refined gasoline from abroad. This imposes
needless costs on American consumers. It deprives American workers of good
jobs. And it needs to change.
So today I'm proposing measures to expedite the refinery permitting
process. Under the reformed process that I propose, challenges to
refineries and other energy project permits must be brought before the D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals within 60 days of the issuance of a permit
decision. Congress should also empower the Secretary of Energy to
establish binding deadlines for permit decisions, and to ensure that the
various levels of approval required in the refinery permitting process are
handled in a timely way.
With these four steps, we will take pressure off gas prices over time by
expanding the amount of American-made oil and gasoline. We will strengthen
our national security by reducing our reliance on foreign oil. We will
benefit American workers by keeping our nation competitive in the global
economy -- and by creating good jobs in construction, and engineering, and
refining, maintenance, and many other areas.
The proposals I've outlined will take years to have their full impact.
There is no excuse for delay -- as a matter of fact, it's a reason to move
swiftly. I know the Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies
in the past. Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to
record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. If congressional
leaders leave for the 4th of July 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 oil -- how high gas prices
have to rise before the Democratic-controlled Congress will do something
about it.
I know this is a trying time for our families, but our country has faced
similar strains before and we've overcome them together -- and we can do
that again. With faith in the innovative spirit of our people and a
commitment to results in Washington, we will meet the energy challenges we
face -- and keep our economy the strongest, most vibrant, and most hopeful
in the world.
Thank you for your time.
END 10:42 A.M. EDT
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