President Obama’s top spokesman told reporters Tuesday that the White House is doing everything in its power to keep energy costs from soaring.
“As you know, the president has, from the beginning, supported an all-of-the-above approach,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. Carney referred to Obama’s decision to increase oil and gas production, raise fuel standards for automobiles and to support innovation in the alternative energy sector during his time in office.
Unfortunately Carney said, there are “no quick fixes” to immediately bring down gas prices, which are heavily influenced by global oil pricing. Anyone who suggests otherwise, Carney added, is merely “blowing smoke.”
Earlier in the day, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote to Obama, challenging him to back a GOP-led plan to boost domestic energy output. The measure calls for increasing offshore drilling, opening up environmentally sensitive areas in the Arctic, speeding up permits for oil companies and signing off on the entire Keystone XL pipeline.
Boehner said the package of items represents a true “all-of-the-above solution.”
The top Republican also accused the White House of exaggerating its claims that oil production has risen under Obama’s watch.
“You have defended your administration’s record by citing today’s historically high level of domestic oil production,” Boehner wrote. ”But, as we both know, that production can be attributed mostly to the policies of your predecessor as well as a boom on state and private lands, which lie largely outside of federal control. ”On federal land, energy production fell 11 percent last year, and your draft five-year plan for off shore exploration projects a decline in federal leasing and permitting.”
Both Boehner and Carney agreed that a long-term strategy is needed to combat rising costs, which often hinge on activity from halfway across the world.
