U.S. House and Senate Reject Bush's Oil Policy

by julianw | May 13, 2008 at 03:55 pm

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U.S. House and Senate Reject Bush's Oil Policy

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The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate voted today to stop increasing America's oil reserves. The decision breaks from the prevailing wisdom, advocated by President Bush, that U.S. oil reserves should be boosted at all times, with no regard to prices.

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to stop adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until crude prices fall below $75 a barrel, repudiating the Bush administration's policy of boosting the stockpile at a time of record fuel costs.

The Senate voted 97 to 1 to suspend oil deliveries to the emergency oil reserve, after most Republicans abandoned the president on the issue. The plan was tacked on to a flood insurance reform bill that passed 92 to 6, enough to override a presidential veto.

"Instead of hiding barrels of oil in the nearly full Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we want to put them on the market to increase supply and lower prices," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

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The House of Representatives on Tuesday followed the Senate in rejecting the Bush administration's policy of adding oil to the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve while fuel prices are high. The House passed legislation that would suspend crude deliveries to the U.S. emergency oil stockpile while the price of oil was above $75 a barrel, a move the White House has opposed. Oil traded at a record near $126 a barrel on Tuesday.

Americans have bombarded their lawmakers with complaints about gasoline costs, which hit a record $3.72 a gallon at the pump this week. Lawmakers hope diverting the reserve's oil shipments to the market will provide consumers some relief.

Rep. John Dingell, Democratic chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said stopping deliveries to the reserve might "prick the speculative bubble" in energy prices.

The Bush administration opposes the move, saying suspending oil shipments would do little to cut oil prices which reached a record near $127 a barrel on Tuesday.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the president's advisors have not recommended a veto of the bill at this time. "We'll watch how this progresses through Congress," he said.

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Bostedor

at 02:29 on May 14th, 2008

Every time that I fill up, I take a picture of the current prices in the Jackson, MI area.

Bostedor has contributed a photo to this story.

neondeception

at 03:32 on May 14th, 2008

This photo was when I was telling my brother how crazy the prices have been getting in cali. He lives in Missouri where gas is around 40cents cheaper. This photo was taken in manteca, ca.

neondeception has contributed a photo to this story.

ewen and donabel

at 09:08 on May 14th, 2008

'course back home in England petrol is $8-$9 a gallon!

The only long term answer to this is to invest heavily in alternative power sources for our transportation system, simply drilling for more oil is only going to help for a bit.

It will probably take a minor miracle (or at least a major recession) before that happens though.

Vhardy

at 11:26 on May 14th, 2008

On our recent trip to Alaska, we met people who have to travel 4-5 hours to the nearest medical center and wondered how sad that they have to pay so much for gas just to see their doctor!

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