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Obama Advocates Tapping Oil Reserves

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The Washington Post

Published: August 5, 2008

LANSING, Mich. - Sen. Barack Obama called Monday for using oil from the nation's strategic reserves to lower gas prices, the second time in less than a week he has modified a position on energy issues as he and Sen. John McCain seek to find solutions to a topic that is increasingly dominating the presidential race.

In a speech here, Obama outlined a plan to reduce an addiction to foreign oil that he said is "one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced." He repeated his call for a $1,000 "energy rebate" for low- and middle-income families that would be paid for by a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

The Obama campaign did not predict how much releasing reserves would lower gas prices. But it said prices at the pump went down more than 19 percent within two weeks when President Bill Clinton made such a move in 2000.

The proposal comes a month after Obama said he would consider using oil from the reserves only in a "genuine emergency," such as "terrorist acts." Aides said the plan is not a reversal, because he would replace light crude oil in the reserves with less-expensive heavy crude. They also noted that the senator from Illinois last week described the country's economic conditions as an "emergency."

The proposal, along with Obama's comments last week that he would consider expanding offshore drilling as part of a comprehensive energy bill, illustrated how both candidates are trying to find quick fixes to $4-a-gallon gas and other rising energy costs.

McCain had also opposed additional offshore drilling until reversing his position in June, and has called for a suspension of the federal gas tax.

McCain's aides said Obama's proposal to tap the nation's oil reserves amounts to his second position on the issue in a month. Spokesman Tucker Bounds said the idea was "not a substitute for a real plan."

"The strategic oil reserve exists for America's national security strategy, not Barack Obama's election strategy," Bounds said.

At a small-business forum outside Philadelphia on Monday, McCain called on Obama to insist that Congress return from its August recess to confront high gas prices and the energy crisis. He urged immediate drilling off the nation's coast.

"We have to drill here and drill now. Not wait and see if there's areas to explore, not wait and see if there's a package to put together," he said. "But drill here and drill now."

McCain has aired ads attacking Obama's positions on drilling. On Monday, Obama responded with an ad blasting his GOP rival for accepting millions in contributions from oil company executives and for advocating a corporate tax cut that would reduce taxes on oil companies.

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