Obama outlines plan to reduce oil imports

By Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

President Obama talks about America's energy security on Wednesday at Georgetown University in Washington.

EnlargeCloseBy Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

President Obama talks about America's energy security on Wednesday at Georgetown University in Washington.

"Tell a Democrat in Washington that gas prices are too high, and, as if on cue, they'll throw together a speech or press conference" to call for tapping into oil reserves or to tout expensive new cars that run on alternative fuels, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said.

By midafternoon, the tempo had increased.

"Same old, same old," chided Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who said Obama was simply restating his "failed" energy policy of the past two years that has resulted in $3.60-a-gallon gas prices.

Amid such skepticism from Republicans in Congress, Obama turned to energy Wednesday after weeks of focus on unrest across the Middle East, the devastation and nuclear crisis in Japan, and tense congressional budget negotiations.

The White House cast his speech to an audience at Georgetown University as an effort to pivot from crisis management to policymaking.

Acknowledging that it has been "a tumultuous time for the world," Obama said the various crises point to a pressing need to reduce the nation's dependence on oil. "There are no quick fixes," he said, as he pledged to reduce oil imports by a third by 2025.

He said the nation "has known about the dangers of our oil dependence for decades. Presidents and politicians of every stripe have promised energy independence, but that promise has so far gone unmet. ... We've also run into the same political gridlock and inertia that's held us back for decades. That has to change."

His plan to cut by a third the roughly 10 million barrels of oil a day imported from abroad hinges on producing more domestic oil, increasing energy efficiency and relying on cleaner alternatives. Obama said the nation must:

•Tap into the nation's large reserves of natural gas. He said he had directed Energy Secretary Steven Chu to improve the safety of the extraction process so that the water supply isn't polluted during excavation.

•Increase reliance on renewable biofuels made from ethanol, switch grass, wood chips and biomass. Obama has directed the Navy and the Energy and Agriculture departments to create biofuels to power fighter jets, trucks and commercial airliners.

•Decrease reliance on oil by making cars and trucks more fuel-efficient. He said the White House soon will propose new standards for heavy-duty trucks and an additional round of new standards for cars.

•Continue investing in high-speed rail and mass transit.

He also made a plug for nuclear energy — as long as it's safe.

"In light of our tight fiscal situation, it's fair to ask how we'll pay for all of it," Obama said. But as the nation confronts high gas prices, pollution and lost jobs, "we are already paying a price for our inaction. ... If we do nothing, that price will only go up."

Obama also cast aside oil industry complaints about his administration's slow approval of drilling permits after last spring's BP oil spill off the Gulf Coast. The White House said the industry needs to make greater use of the leases it has been granted.

The Western Energy Alliance, a trade group of 400 oil and gas companies, said Wednesday that the "increasing costs and regulatory uncertainty" created by the Obama administration have stalled new development.

Government policies under Obama "only serve to make federal lands less attractive for companies to develop," the group's Kathleen Sgamma said.

Vitter, meanwhile, said he'll introduce his own plan today, in the form of a bill likely to spark objections from Democrats. It would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, speed the permitting process for new exploration and block some Environmental Protection Agency anti-pollution regulations.

Obama doesn't have a bill to offer, but he will — as McConnell suggested — try to make his case to the public on Friday when he tours a UPS shipping plant in Maryland that uses clean-energy alternative fuel for its trucks.

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