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Washington: President Bush on Monday lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling and challenged Congress to follow suit, aiming to turn the enormous public frustration about gasoline prices into political leverage.
Democratic lawmakers rejected Bush's plan as a symbolic stunt.
With gas prices topping $4.10 a gallon nationally, Bush made his most assertive move to extend oil exploration, an energy priority of his presidency. By lifting the executive prohibition against coastal drilling, Bush rescinded a White House policy that his own father put in place in 1990.
The move will have no practical effect unless Congress acts, too. Both executive and legislative bans must be lifted before offshore exploration can happen.
Bush had called on Congress a month ago to go first, then reversed himself on Monday. He said the country could no longer afford to wait.
‘Failure to act is unacceptable. It's unacceptable to me and it's unacceptable to the American people,’ Bush said in an event held in the Rose Garden.
‘Democratic leaders can show that they have finally heard the frustrations of the American people by matching the action I've taken today, repealing the congressional ban, and passing legislation to facilitate responsible offshore exploration,’ Bush said.
Democrats were unmoved.
‘The Bush plan is a hoax,’ responded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. ‘It will neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence.’
Several Democratic leaders in Congress said oil companies are already sitting on millions of acres of public and coastal lands. Yet a proposal by Democrats to release oil from an emergency reserve has been rejected by the White House as a gimmick that won't reduce prices.
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