Bush economic advice includes more domestic E&P

Jan. 14, 2008
US President George W. Bush is including more domestic oil and gas exploration in his general economic recommendations as 2008 gets under way.

US President George W. Bush is including more domestic oil and gas exploration in his general economic recommendations as 2008 gets under way.

Bush reiterated his opposition to new taxes and voiced concern over impacts from the housing crisis. But he also noted that gasoline prices have risen and that consumers are feeling financially pinched.

“There is no quick fix. As a matter of fact, I signed good legislation, passed by Republicans and Democrats, that enables us to begin to diversify away from oil and gas, and that’s good,” he said on Jan. 7, referring to the 2007 energy bill he approved on Dec. 17.

“But the diversification isn’t going to happen overnight. We ought to be exploring for more oil and gas in the United States of America, and I’m convinced we can do so in environmentally friendly ways,” Bush told the Union League Club of Chicago.

At a Jan. 4 meeting of his working group on financial markets in Washington, the president said Congress and the administration will need to work together keep taxes low. Raising taxes when the economy is strong but indicators are mixed would be a serious mistake, he maintained.

“Secondly, we have got to understand that if we are worried about gasoline prices, we ought to expand refineries here in the United States, and we ought to explore for oil and gas in environmentally friendly ways in the United States,” Bush continued.