Speaking in Pittsburgh this week President Obama tried to channel public outrage about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill into support for a climate change bill. The President argued the case for breaking the nation's addiction to fossil fuels has been made clearer by the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf. Obama said he will make the case for a clean-energy future wherever he can, and will work with anyone from either party to get this done.
Still, energy experts warn that climate legislation would have little impact on the need to search for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore oil provides a growing portion of U.S. oil production, and deep-water wells account for a rising share of the offshore output. The gulf provides about 40% of U.S. oil production.
Supporters of climate-change legislation on Capitol Hill cheered Obama's remarks. Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., said it was exactly what was needed with Congress coming back into session next week. But Senate Republicans immediately challenged Obama's call to action ,saying he is using the gulf disaster to promote legislation that would undermine the nation's economy. The chairman of the Republican Study Committee Representative Tom Price, R-Ga., said the Obama administration is once again using a crisis to push its job-killing agenda.
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