Bush urges Congress to end offshore oil drill ban

Posted: 25 June 2008
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US President George W. Bush last week urged Congress to end a ban on offshore oil drilling, seeking to address rising consumer angst over record-high gasoline prices with a plan sure to anger environmentalists.

"Every American who drives to work, purchases food or ships a product has felt the effect, and families across the country are looking to Washington for a response," Bush said.

As average US pump prices pierced the US$4-a-gallon level for the first time earlier this month, energy policy has become a key issue in the presidential race ahead of November elections.

Bush said opening federal lands off the US east and west coasts -- where oil drilling has been banned by both an executive order and a congressional moratorium since the early 1990s -- could yield about 18 billion barrels of oil.

That's enough to meet current US consumption for about two-and-a-half years, but it likely would take a decade or more to find the oil and produce it.

Bush's latest drilling plan came as lawmakers on Capitol Hill continued to wage a war of words over who is to blame for record-high gasoline prices.

Republicans and Bush have repeatedly blamed Democrats for blocking legislation that opens offshore lands and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling.

"Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal, and now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction," Bush said.

About 60% of Americans support government moves to encourage more oil drilling and refinery construction as a way to combat soaring energy prices -- but the same number also profess to be in favour of conservation, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

Republicans, including presidential candidate John McCain, who announced his position last week after opposing it in the past, increasingly support lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling.

Barack Obama, who is running for president, and fellow Democrats, oppose it over environmental concerns and say such action would have little immediate impact on fuel prices.

Environmental groups have long opposed expanded offshore oil drilling, raising concerns about the dangers to fragile ecosystems as well potential for oil spills that could mar the US coastline.