Obama Urges Opening Up Oil Reserves
By Perry Bacon Jr. and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; A04
LANSING, Mich., Aug. 4 — Sen. Barack Obama called Monday for using oil from the nation’s strategic reserves to lower gasoline prices, the second time in less than a week that he has modified a position on energy issues, as he and Sen. John McCain seek to find solutions to a topic that is increasingly dominating the presidential race.
In a speech here, Obama outlined a plan to reduce an addiction to foreign oil that he said is “one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced.” He repeated his call for a $1,000 “energy rebate” for low- and middle-income families that would be paid for by a windfall-profits tax on oil companies.
The Obama campaign did not predict how much releasing reserves would lower gas prices. But it said prices at the pump went down more than 19 percent within two weeks when President Bill Clinton made such a move in 2000.
His proposal comes a month after Obama said he would consider using oil from the reserves only in a “genuine emergency,” such as “terrorist acts.” Aides said the plan is not a reversal because he would replace light crude oil in the reserves with less-expensive heavy crude. They also noted that the senator from Illinois last week described the country’s economic conditions as an “emergency.”
The Bush administration said it opposed using oil from the reserves when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for it last month. McCain mocked the idea on Monday.
The proposal, along with Obama’s comments last week that he would consider expanding offshore drilling as part of a comprehensive energy bill, illustrated how both candidates are trying to find quick fixes to $4-a-gallon gas and other rising energy costs. McCain had also opposed additional offshore drilling until reversing his position in June, and he has called for a suspension of the federal gas tax.
But their proposals reflect a problem both candidates face: There are few ways to dramatically reduce gas prices, even as voters demand solutions.
Obama emphasized on Monday that using reserves is a temporary fix and that drilling is not “a particularly meaningful short-term or long-term solution.” McCain has said that drilling would have a “psychological” benefit for consumers; his proposal to suspend the 18-cent-a-gallon federal gas tax was ignored by lawmakers on Capitol Hill and criticized by economists, who said it would not lead to a noticeable change in prices.
On the stump, McCain talks frequently about electric power, a subject that energy experts say will do little to affect gas prices. His plan to build 45 nuclear power plants, which he will highlight with a visit to a Michigan plant Tuesday, would take decades.
McCain’s aides said Obama’s proposal to tap the nation’s oil reserves amounts to his second position on the issue in a month. McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said the idea is “not a substitute for a real plan.”
“The strategic oil reserve exists for America’s national security strategy, not Barack Obama’s election strategy,” Bounds said.
At a small-business forum near Philadelphia on Monday, McCain called on Obama to insist that Congress return from its August recess to confront high gas prices and the energy crisis. He urged immediate drilling off the nation’s coast.
“We have to drill here and drill now. Not wait and see if there’s areas to explore, not wait and see if there’s a package to put together,” he said. “But drill here and drill now.”
McCain has aired ads attacking Obama’s positions on drilling. On Monday, Obama responded with an ad blasting his GOP rival for accepting millions in contributions from oil company executives and for advocating a corporate tax cut that would reduce taxes on oil companies.
In his speech, Obama pledged to eliminate the need for oil from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 years by growing alternative sources of energy and through conservation.
His long-term energy plan includes creating a million 150-mile-per gallon plug-in hybrid vehicles within six years; requiring that 10 percent of U.S. energy come from renewable resources by the end of his first term; and reducing U.S. demand for electricity by 15 percent by 2030.
Obama said he would give a $7,000 tax credit to those who buy plug-in hybrid cars. They won’t be mass-produced until 2010, but aides said the candidate wants to encourage carmakers to move toward producing more energy-efficient vehicles.
“I want the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow to be built — not in Japan, not in China, but here in the United States of America, here in Michigan,” Obama said to loud applause.
McCain has said he would invest $2 billion in clean coal technology and has offered a $300 million prize to whoever invents the next-generation electric motor for cars. He would give a $5,000 tax credit to those who buy cars that produce less pollution.
Obama’s shifts on offshore drilling and using the petroleum reserve come as polls show that large majorities back increased drilling to reduce gas prices.
The issue is complicated for the Democrat, as many environmental groups are eager to see Americans drive less and are sharply opposed to increased drilling. Friends of the Earth, an environmental group that endorsed Obama in May, said in a statement that “it’s so disappointing to see Obama now say he would consider expanding offshore drilling, even though he knows it is not a real solution to the energy crisis.”
Obama has also suggested Americans could save money on gas by fully inflating their tires — something that police departments and other government agencies across the country have done to conserve fuel.
The McCain campaign has ridiculed Obama, saying it is a tiny solution to the gas problem. On his plane Monday, McCain’s staff handed reporters tire gauges with the words “OBAMA ENERGY PLAN” stamped on them.
Shear was traveling with McCain. Staff writer Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report from Montana.
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