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Fact Sheet: Reducing Gas Prices and Foreign Oil Dependence
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 18, 2008

Fact Sheet: Reducing Gas Prices and Foreign Oil Dependence President Bush
Urges Congress To Expand Domestic Oil Production

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ President Bush Discusses Energy

Today, President Bush called on Congress to help American families by
removing barriers to domestic production of oil and gasoline. For many
Americans, there is no more pressing concern than high gasoline prices.
Behind them 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 gas pumps. And now much of the
oil consumed in America comes from abroad, including from unstable regions
and unfriendly regimes. The Bush Administration has repeatedly called on
Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Congressional
Democrats have rejected virtually every proposal. Now, Americans are paying
the price at the pump for this obstruction.

Congress Needs To Respond Now To The President's Call To Expand Our
Domestic Production

President Bush asks Democratic Congressional leaders to move forward with
four steps to expand American oil and gasoline production. With these four
steps, we will take pressure off gas prices over time by expanding the
amount of American-made oil and gasoline; strengthen our national security
by reducing our reliance on foreign oil; and strengthen our ability to
convince foreign producers to increase their oil and gas production.The
results will not be immediate, but the sooner Congress acts, the sooner
Americans will be better off. Specifically, to expand American oil
production, Congress should:

1. Increase access to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Experts believe
that areas under leasing prohibitions on the OCS could produce about 18
billion barrels of oil. Actual resources may be greater, but we will not
know until exploration is allowed. The problem is that Congress has
restricted access to much 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 _ these Congressional restrictions have become outdated and
counterproductive.
  þ Republicans in Congress have proposed several promising bills that
    would lift the legislative ban on oil exploration in the OCS. President
    Bush calls on the House and Senate to pass such good legislation as
    soon as possible. This legislation should give the States the option of
    opening up OCS resources off their shores and ensure the environment is
    protected. There is also an Executive prohibition on exploration in the
    OCS. When Congress lifts the legislative ban, the President will lift
    this Executive prohibition.

2. Tap into the extraordinary potential of oil shale. Oil shale is a type
of rock that can produce oil when exposed to heat or other processes. 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.
If it can be fully recovered, it would equal more than a century's worth of
currently projected oil imports.
  þ Oil shale is a highly promising resource. For many years, the high cost
    of extracting oil from shale exceeded the benefit, but today, companies
    are investing in technology to make oil shale production more
    affordable and efficient. 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.
  þ Democrats in Congress are standing in the way of further development.
    Last year, Democratic leaders used the omnibus spending bill to insert
    a provision blocking oil shale leasing on Federal lands _ President
    Bush calls on Congress to remove that provision immediately.

3. Permit exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In
1995, Congress passed legislation allowing oil production in a small
fraction of ANWR's 19.6 million acres, yet President Clinton vetoed the
bill. With a drilling footprint of less than 2,000 acres _ about 0.01
percent of this distant Alaskan terrain _ America could produce an
estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil. This is the equivalent of roughly
two decades of imported crude oil from Saudi Arabia.
  þ Scientists have developed innovative techniques to reach ANWR's oil
    with virtually no impact on the land or local wildlife. These
    techniques are currently being utilized successfully in other areas.
    President Bush urges Members of Congress to allow this remote region to
    bring enormous benefits to the American people.

4. Expand and enhance our refinery capacity. It has been 30 years since our
Nation built a new refinery, and upgrades in our refining capacity are
urgently needed. Refineries are the critical link between crude oil and the
gasoline and diesel fuel that drivers put in their tanks. America now
imports millions of barrels of fully-refined gasoline from abroad, imposing
needless costs on American consumers and depriving American workers of good
jobs.
  þ President Bush is proposing measures to expedite the refinery
    permitting process. The President proposes that challenges to
    refineries and other related energy project permits must be brought
    before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals within 60 days of the issuance
    of a permit decision. In addition, the President proposes that the
    Secretary of Energy be empowered to establish binding deadlines for
    permit decisions and to ensure that the various levels of approval
    required in the refinery permitting process are all handled in a timely
    way. And Congress should allow new refineries to be built on abandoned
    military bases.

These Proposals Will Take Years To Have Their Full Impact, But That Is No
Excuse For Delay

For the long run, we are dealing with the demand for oil by promoting
alternative energy technologies. President Bush's Administration has worked
with Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries
and hydrogen fuel cells, mandated a large expansion in the use of
alternative fuels, and 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.

Building on this progress, President Bush announced the "Twenty in Ten"
initiative in his 2007 State of the Union address. Congress responded to
this challenge and passed and the President signed, the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which mandates that fuel producers use at
least 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. EISA also requires a national
fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 _ which will increase
fuel economy by 40 percent and save billions of gallons of fuel.

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