United States President George Bush, facing a summer of revolt from a nation that believes fiercely in its right to affordable petrol, on Tuesday unveiled plans to try to stop a rapid rise in prices at the pump.
In a speech to the Renewable Fuels Association in Washington, Bush acknowledged that the high prices — which have sharply accelerated the decline in his popularity — were hurting ordinary Americans as the holiday season approaches.
”Energy experts predict gas prices are going to remain high throughout the summer. And that’s going to be a continued strain on the American people,” he said.
Bush spoke on a day when his approval ratings hit a new trough of 32% in a CNN poll, and a day after the Republican leadership, worried at the impact of high petrol prices on November’s midterm elections, called on the White House to investigate possible price fixing.
In an attempt to halt the panic in his own party at its prospects next November, and among ordinary Americans now faced with paying more than $3 a gallon for petrol, Bush began with a plan to halt the purchase of crude oil for the government’s emergency reserve. America has enough fuel to guard against any disruption over the next few months, he said.
”So, by deferring deposits until the fall, we’ll leave a little more oil on the market. Every little bit helps.”
Bush also said he had instructed the Federal Trade Commission and the departments of justice and energy to investigate possible cheating on prices at the pump. Other elements of Bush’s plan called for the easing of environmental safeguards to speed the building of refineries, and air quality requirements on fuel grades. The president also repeated earlier calls to open up the Arctic wildlife reserve to drilling.
Analysts said that the measures would do little to address the immediate pain that Americans are feeling at the pump. They described the halt on contributions to the strategic petroleum reserves as psychologically symbolic. As for investigations into price fixing, the test of that would come in enforcement.
However, Bush won praise for his rhetorical commitment to alternative fuels, even if he disappointed some analysts by not doing enough to encourage energy conservation.
”Ethanol, hydrogen, electricity — it is going to take 20 or 30 years for them to have a major impact, and consumers need help today,” said David Friedman, research director in the vehicles programme of the Union of Concerned Scientists. ”Even if we are successful with ethanol, we can’t kick our oil habit unless we move to fuel economy.”
Bush did call on Congress on Tuesday to expand tax credits on the purchase of energy efficient and hybrid cars.
Since his state of the union address last January, when Bush memorably declared: ”America is addicted to oil”, the president’s speeches have often revisited the energy theme.
In another sign of the apparent conversion of a former Texas oil man, Bush also called on Congress to roll back $2-billion in tax breaks for oil companies over the next 10 years.
However, he rejected calls by Democrats for a windfall tax on oil company profits from the higher prices.
But Tuesday’s address was prefigured by growing fears among Republicans that prices at the pump would once again hit the record high set in the wake of Hurricane Katrina last September, all but sealing defeat in November’s elections.
With petrol prices some 30% higher than they were a year ago, Congress is under intense pressure from constituents to ease the pain at the pumps.
However, as Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, told ABC television on Tuesday, there were limits to what Congress could do. ”There is no silver bullet,” he said, going on to advise Americans to drive slower and consider car pooling.
Sorry, we’re out of gas
In small town Pennsylvania, people are going to pawn shops to get money to fill up their cars. In Nevada, they are trading in cars for more fuel efficient motorcyles. In New Jersey and parts of Delaware, people would be grateful for petrol at any price. The pumps there went dry over the weekend.
All across the country, Americans have been forced to confront the most un-American of facts: they can no longer rely on cheap petrol. The average price at the pump — $1,46 a gallon when Bush came into office — is now well above $3 in many parts of the country, and touching $4 a gallon at some stations in Beverly Hills.
The sharp rise in prices — the second since the record high set last September in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — could not have come at a more painful time with Americans hoping to make for the open road as summer approaches.
For some customers, filling up their tanks now requires selling some of their belongings, a Pennsylvania television station reported. The station WJAC found a woman in Portage Township, Pennsylvania, selling a television and CDs so her fiance could buy petrol. ”It’s getting to the point where he’s gonna see if he can give somebody $20 and ride with them and sell the car; it’s that bad,” she told the station.
In Nevada, a Las Vegas TV station found a couple who traded their car for motorcyles, which get 80km to the gallon and cost $15 to fill up. ”The only other thing I can do to get this kind of gas would be to get a hybrid. And, right now, we just don’t have the financial backing to get a hybrid so the bikes are a better deal,” Terry Davis told the station.
Other commuters are taking slightly less unorthodox measures: they are taking the bus. Public transport systems across the country report increased custom. – Guardian Unlimited Â