Bush Talks Oil, the Dollar, and More
President George W. Bush was strong and in good spirits as he met this morning with a small group of journalists for about 90 minutes in the Oval Office. Topics across the board were discussed. As always in these meetings, some of the juiciest stuff is off the record. Too bad, because the president has an awful lot of important things to say on so many of these issues. But ground rules are ground rules. I hope I don’t get into trouble by mentioning a few economic points that came up.
First, the president will continue his strong push on energy deregulation to open up the offshore outer continental shelf, ANWR, and the shale fields. When asked if he would revoke the executive order moratorium on drilling, he said he was thinking about it. When asked whether he would give a prime-time nationally televised speech on the subject, he said he would think about that too.
He made it clear that the root cause of high gas pump prices and the $140 barrel price of oil is a lack of supply. He said we’re in a transition period from hydrocarbons to alternative technologies, but that drilling for more oil and gas is essential at this stage. He said taxing oil companies will not create any new supply. He also asserted that the marketplace works more effectively than a variety of new regulations.