Barrasso Responds to Obama's Energy Speech

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) released the following statement regarding the President's speech about his energy plan:

"President Obama's speech today is another clear example of his lack of leadership on important issues. Instead of proposing new ideas that will help lower the price of gasoline, he basically rehashed a speech he gave a year ago. He blamed Congress, tried to justify government spending on unreliable projects and took credit for previous Administration's actions that led to increased energy production.

"The one thing he forgot to mention is that last year, he set a goal to reduce oil imports by one-third by 2025. Since he made this promise, our nation has actually imported more oil from overseas.

"If the President is serious about pursuing an all of the above energy plan, he will send a bill to Congress immediately. We need serious energy solutions -- not annual speeches."

Background:

On March 30, 2011, President Obama said:

"So today, I'm setting a new goal: one that is reasonable, achievable, and necessary. When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third."

Almost a year later, our nation has imported more oil.

March 11, 2011: 8.681 million barrels per day
February 17, 2012: 9.091 million barrels per day

(Source: Energy Information Administration)

Today, the Senate Republican Policy Committee released a fact sheet regarding President Obama's record on gas prices.

Source