In his weekly radio address, U.S. President George Bush once again urged Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil-and-gas drilling to increase U.S. energy production. Mr. Bush said Democrats in Congress are blocking his proposals, and, as a result, are partly to blame for high gasoline costs. Mary Motta has this report from Washington.
U.S. President George Bush focused on the price of gas in making his case for offshore drilling.
"The fundamental problem behind high gas prices is that the supply of oil has not kept up with the rising demand across the world. One obvious solution is for America to increase our domestic oil production," he said.
Earlier this week, President Bush called on the U.S. Congress to lift a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore oil-and-gas drilling, putting himself in the middle of an election-year debate over energy policy.
By urging lawmakers to lift the federal ban and induce coastal states to open up more areas of the outer continental shelf to exploration, Mr. Bush reinforced a similar proposal by Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, opposes it.
In his radio address Saturday, Mr. Bush stepped up his political rhetoric. Because rising energy costs have become a top issue for voters, Mr. Bush and his fellow Republicans are seeking to portray Democrats as standing in the way of measures to help lower gasoline prices.
"I know Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past," he added. "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 Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act."
Democratic leaders signaled they would not budge.
Representative Nick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia, said Mr. Bush's proposal will not bring the type of relief Americans need at the gas pump. He says oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres of federal lands they have already leased that have the capacity to nearly double U.S. oil and gas production and cut oil imports by one-third.
"Big oil is stockpiling these leases as they enjoy record profits, while Americans feel the pain at the pump," he noted. "Simply put, we are telling big oil to use or lose it."
Mr. Bush's move carries political risk, because offshore exploration has faced opposition in Florida, which will be a battleground in the presidential campaign. Critics of the plan fear it would damage Florida's beaches and drive away tourists.
Mr. Bush's plan also calls for allowing exploration and drilling in a portion of the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and leasing federal lands to mine and extract oil from shale in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
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美国总统布什在这个星期的每周例行广播讲话中再次敦促国会取消对近海石油和天然气钻探的禁令，以提高美国的能源产量。布什说，国会中民主党议员在阻挠他的有关建议，因此，他们要对汽油价格高涨承担部分责任。
美国总统布什广播讲话的焦点集中在高油价上，以此作为取消近海石油钻探禁令的理由。
布什说：“高油价反映出的根本问题是，石油供应没有跟上世界石油需求的增长。对美国来说一个明显的解决办法是，提高我们国内的石油产量。”
这个星期早些时候，布什总统呼吁国会取消对近海石油和天然气钻探的历时27年的禁令，从而把自己置于大选年能源问题辩论的中心地位。
布什敦促国会议员取消这项联邦禁令，以便使沿海各州开放更多的外大陆架区域进行钻探，同时，支持由稳获共和党总统候选人提名的联邦参议员约翰.麦凯恩提出的一项类似建议。不过，民主党总统候选人巴拉克.奥巴马反对这项建议。
布什在星期六的广播讲话中加强了政治辩论力度。由于不断增加的能源支出已经成为选民关注的头号问题，布什和共和党同僚试图把民主党说成阻挠有助于降低汽油价格措施通过的一方。
布什说：“我知道民主党领导人过去一直反对其中的一些政策。他们的反对立场推动了汽油价格创下历史新高，现在我请求他们重新考虑他们的反对立场。如果国会领导人在7月4号休会之前没有采取任何行动，他们就要说清楚为什么每加仑4美元的汽油价格还不足以让他们有所行动。”
民主党领导人表示，他们不会让步。
来自西维吉尼亚的民主党众议员尼克.拉霍尔表示，布什的建议不会让美国人解脱加油的沉重负担，而这种解脱是美国人所需要的。拉霍尔说，石油公司手里已掌握着6800万英亩的联邦土地，他们租用的这些土地足以让美国石油和天然气产量提高近一倍，进而减少三分之一的石油进口。
拉霍尔说：“创记录的石油利润让大石油公司非常满意，因此他们不想在租用的土地上钻探石油，而高油价却让美国人民非常痛苦。简单一句话，我们要告诉大石油公司的是，如果不在他们租用的土地上钻探石油，他们就得失去这些土地。”
布什的提议带有政治风险，因为海上石油钻探在佛罗里达遇到反对，而那里是总统竞选的必争之地。对布什计划持批评态度的人士担心，开采佛罗里达海上石油会破坏那里的海滩，使游客减少。
布什的计划还要求允许钻探阿拉斯加1900万英亩北极国家野生保护区中的部分区域，并出租联邦土地供开采，以及从科罗拉多、怀俄明和犹他州的格林河盆地的油页岩中提取石油。
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