President Obama speaks to a crowd in Cushing, Oklahoma, on Thursday, explaining the need to construct an oil pipeline that reaches America's Gulf Coast.
>>yesterday i visited nevada and new mexico to talk about what we're calling an all of the above energy strategy. it's a strategy that will keep us on track to further reduce our dependence on foreign oil, put more people back to work, and ultimately help to curb this spike in gas prices that we're seeing year after year after year. so today, i have come to cushing. an oil town. [ cheers and applause ]>>because producing more oil and gas at home has been and will continue to be a critical part of an all of the above energy strategy. now under my administration, america is produticing more oil today than any time in the last eight years. that's important to know. over the last three years, i have directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. we're opening up more than 75% of our potential oil resources offsho offshore. we have added enough new oil pipeline to encircle the earth and then some. so we are drilling off over the place, right now. that's not the challenge, that's not the problem, in fact the problem in a place like cushing that -- that we don't have enough pipeline capacity to where it needs to go there's a bottle next right here because we can't get enough of the oil to our refineries fast enough. and if we could, we would be able to increase our oil supplies at a time when they're needed as much as possible. right now a company called transcanada, has applied to build a new pipeline to speed more-i'm urging my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done. now, you wouldn't know all of this from listening to the television set. this whole issue of the keystone pipeline has generated a lot of politics. that's because the original route from canada into the united states was planned through an area in nebraska that supplies drinking water for millions of americans. and nebraskans of all political stripes, including the republican governor there raised some concerns about the safety and wisdom of that route. so to be extra careful that the construction of the pipeline in an area like that wouldn't put the health and the safety of the american people at risk. our exports said that we needed a certain amount of time to review the project. unfortunately, congress decided they wanted their own timeline. not the company, not the experts, but members of congress who decided this might be a fun political issue, decided to try to intervene and make it impossible for us to make an informed decision. so, what we have said to the company is we're happy to review future permits. and today we're making this new pipeline from cushing to the gulf a priority. so the southern leg of it, we're making it a priority and we're going to go ahead and get that done. the northern portion of it, we're going to have to review properly to make sure that the health and safety of the american people are protected. that's common sense. but the fact is that my administration has approved dozens of new oil and gas pipelines over the last three years including one from canada. and as long as i'm president we're going to keep encouraging oil development and infrastructure and ensures the health and safety of the american people. we don't have to choose, we can do both. so i just if you guys are talking to your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your aunts, your uncles, and they're wondering what's going on in terms of oil production, you just tell them that anybody who suggests that somehow we're suppressing domestic oil production isn't paying attention. they are not paying attention. what you also need to tell them is just drilling more gas and more oil by itself will bring down oil prices the next day or the next year, they're also not paying attention, they're not playing it straight. we are drilling more, we are producing more. but the fact is we're not producing enough oil at home to bring oil prices down. i have been saying for the last few weeks and i want everybody to understand this, we use 20% of the world's oil. we only produce 2% of the world's oil. if i put an oil rig on the south lawn, if we had one near the washington monument, even if we drilled every little bit of this great country of ours, we still would have to buy the rest of our needs from someplace else if we keep on using the same amount of energy, the same amount of oil. the price of oil will still be set by the global market. and that means every time there's tensions that rise in the middle east, which is what is happening right now, so will the price of gas. the main reason the price of gas are high right now is the main reason people are worried about what's happening in iran. it has nothing to do with the oil production. it has to do with the oil markets saying if something happens, we're going to be able to chargemore and the price will go meyer. that's not the future i want for america, that's not the future i want for our kids. i want us to control our own energy destiny, i want us to determine our own course. so, yes, we're going to keep on drilling, yes we're going to keep on emphasizing production, yes, we're going to make sure oil gets to where it's needed, but as part of an all of the above strategy is looking at how we can continually improve the utilization of renewable energy sources, new clean energy sources and how do we become more efficient in our use of emergency. it means more solar power, it means for-we want every source of american made energy. i don't want the energy jobs of tomorrow going to other countries, i want them here in the united states of america. and that's what an all of the above energy strategy is all about, that's how we break our dependence on foreign oil. the good news is we're already seeing progress. yesterday i went to nevada to see the largest oil plant anywhere in the country. hundreds of workers built it, it's powering thousands of homes and they're expanding to tens of thousands of homes. and we have increased the fuel efficiency standards on cars and trucks. and that's going to save the average family $8,000 over the life of a car. and it's going to save a lot of companies a lot of money, because they're hurt by rising fuel costs as well. all of these steps have helped put america on the path to greater oil independence. last year we imported one million fewer barrels per day than the year before. think about that. america, at a time when we're growing is actually importing less oil from overseas because we're using it smarter and more efficiently. america is now importding more than half. we have got to make sure that we don't go backwards, that we keep going forwards, if we're going to end our dependence on foreign oil, if we're going to bring gas prices down once and for all, as opposed to just playing politics with it every single year, then what we're going to have to do is develop every single source of energy that we have got, every new technology that can help us become more efficient, we have got to use our innovation, we have got to use our brain power, we have got to use our creativity. we have got to have a vision for the future, not just constantly looking backwards at the past. that's where we need to go. that's the future we can build. and that's what america's always been about is building the future. we have always been at the cutting edge. we're always ahead of the curve, whether it's thomas edison or the wright brothers or steve jobs, we're always thinking about the next thing, and that's how we have to think about energy. and if we do, not only are we going to see jobs and growth and success here in cushing oklahoma, we're going
No comments:
Post a Comment