[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[August 12, 2008]
[Pages 1138-1140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Coalition for Affordable American Energy
August 12, 2008

    I want to thank members of the Coalition for Affordable American 
Energy for joining me today. We just had a very interesting and 
informative discussion. I heard from businesses, large and small. They--
these folks are representing a lot of workers, people who are really 
concerned about the energy situation here in America, a lot of people 
wondering why their Government is not doing something about the supply 
of crude oil.
    One of the things that came out in this discussion was, there's a 
lot of folks in our country who understand we could be doing something 
about the high price of gasoline, and we're not. Obviously, we need to 
be wise about conservation, but we've got to be wise about increasing 
the supply of oil here in America. If you're concerned about the price 
of gasoline, one way to affect that price of gasoline is to increase oil 
supplies.
    And one of these things these workers know, that I fully understand 
as well, I'd rather our consumers be buying gasoline made from oil here 
in America than gasoline from oil being made overseas. We want our 
dollars, to the extent possible, to be here at home, staying here at 
home.
    And so we discussed a variety of strategies about how to affect the 
supply of oil, and one way that we can affect the supply of oil is to 
increase access to offshore exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf.
    Congress has restricted access to key parts of the Outer Continental 
Shelf since the early 1980s. Experts believe that these restricted areas 
could eventually produce nearly 10 years worth of America's current oil 
production. People have analyzed what's possible there, and they believe 
that it's--we can find a lot of oil, American-produced oil, oil that 
will mean our dollars are staying here and not going overseas. Advances 
in

[[Page 1139]]

technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the Outer 
Continental Shelf that is out of sight, that protects coral reefs, and 
protects against oil spills.
    Last month, I acted, and I lifted an executive branch restriction on 
offshore oil exploration. And then I called on Congress to join me and 
to lift the legislative ban--to end the legislative ban. Unfortunately, 
the Democratic leadership in Congress decided to go on a 5-week 
vacation, a recess, rather than act on behalf of the American consumer, 
the American small-business owner.
    Members have now had an opportunity to hear from their constituents, 
and if they listen carefully, I think they'll hear what I heard today, 
and that is, a lot of Americans from all walks of life wonder why we 
can't come together and get legislation necessary to end the ban on 
offshore drilling. And so today I join House Republicans in urging the 
Speaker of the House to schedule a vote on offshore oil exploration as 
soon as possible.
    Now, the way ahead is this: The moratorium on offshore drilling is 
included in the provisions of the Interior appropriations bill. When 
Congress returns, they should immediately bring this bill to the House 
floor and schedule an up-or-down vote on whether to lift the moratorium 
on offshore drilling. Our goal should be to enact a law that reflects 
the will of the overwhelming majority of Americans who want to open up 
oil resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.
    And so the Democratic leadership should bring up a clean bill, give 
the Members a chance to vote up or down on whether or not we should 
proceed with offshore drilling, and not insert any legislative poison 
pills. Those would be provisions that they know will never be enacted 
and are added only for the purpose of killing the effort to open up the 
off--the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling.
    Congress can do some more. Once they solve this problem, they can 
allow us to drill in northern Alaska, which we can do in environmentally 
friendly ways. They should allow us to tap into the extraordinary 
potential of oil shale. And we need to expand our refining capacity here 
in America. These are all steps that the Congress can take to show the 
American people that we can move forward in a positive way to affect the 
price of gasoline. And there's a lot of Members of Congress who want a 
up-or-down vote. And the Democratic leadership has got to listen to the 
people on this issue.
    Now, this is part of a comprehensive strategy. Everybody in this 
room understands that expanding oil and gas production is a part of a 
comprehensive strategy. Obviously, we need to expand conservation 
measures. We need to develop alternative energy technologies such as 
advanced batteries, plug-in hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells. We need to 
expand clean, safe, nuclear power, clean coal technology, solar and wind 
power. There's not a single answer to our energy problems, but a part of 
solving the dilemma that our consumers are facing, that the hard-working 
Americans face, and that is high price of gasoline, we need to get after 
exploration here in America. And we can do it in a way that protects the 
environment.
    So when Congress comes back, they need to act. And they don't need 
to gimmick up the legislation; they need to allow there to be an up-or-
down vote and let the Members express the will of their constituents.
    I appreciate the--your work on this issue. I appreciate you 
represent a lot of hard-working people, people who simply want to put 
food on the table and be able to make it to work; people who are 
concerned about the price of gasoline; people who have told you to tell 
me that they want to see more oil drilled, more exploration on the Outer 
Continental Shelf; people who told you to tell me they want to

[[Page 1140]]

see us drilling in Alaska; people who told you to tell me they want a 
commonsense energy policy right here in Washington, DC. And I agree with 
them.
    Thank you for your time. Thank you for our conversation. Appreciate 
it. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 1:57 p.m. in Room 350 of the Dwight D. 
Eisenhower Executive Office Building.