President Obama's Weekly Address

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address on Gas Prices
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Washington, DC

This is a time of year when people get together with family and friends  to observe Passover and to celebrate Easter.  It’s a chance to give  thanks for our blessings and reaffirm our faith, while spending time  with the people we love.  We all know how important that is – especially  in hard times.  And that’s what a lot of people are facing these days.

Even though the economy is growing again and we’ve seen businesses  adding jobs over the past year, many are still looking for work. And  even if you haven’t faced a job loss, it’s still not easy out there.   Your paycheck isn’t getting bigger, while the cost of everything from  college for your kids to gas for your car keeps rising.  That’s  something on a lot of people’s minds right now, with gas prices at $4 a  gallon.  It’s just another burden when things were already pretty tough.

Now, whenever gas prices shoot up, like clockwork, you see politicians  racing to the cameras, waving three-point plans for two dollar gas.  You  see people trying to grab headlines or score a few points.  The truth  is, there’s no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away.

But there are a few things we can do.  This includes safe and  responsible production of oil at home, which we are pursuing.  In fact,  last year, American oil production reached its highest level since  2003.  On Thursday, my Attorney General also launched a task force with  just one job: rooting out cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil  markets that might affect gas prices, including any illegal activity by  traders and speculators.  We’re going to make sure that no one is taking  advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain.  And  another step we need to take is to finally end the $4 billion in  taxpayer subsidies we give to the oil and gas companies each year.   That’s $4 billion of your money going to these companies when they’re  making record profits and you’re paying near record prices at the pump.   It has to stop.

Instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy sources, we need to invest in  tomorrow’s. We need to invest in clean, renewable energy. In the long  term, that’s the answer. That’s the key to helping families at the pump  and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.  We can see that promise  already. Thanks to an historic agreement we secured with all the major  auto companies, we’re raising the fuel economy of cars and trucks in  America, using hybrid technology and other advances.  As a result, if  you buy a new car in the next few years, the better gas mileage is going  to save you about $3,000 at the pump.

But we need to do more.  We need to harness the potential I’ve seen at  promising start-ups and innovative clean energy companies across  America.  And that’s at the heart of a debate we’re having right now in  Washington about the budget.

Both Democrats and Republicans believe we need to reduce the deficit.   That’s where we agree.  The question we’re debating is how we do it.   I’ve proposed a balanced approach that cuts spending while still  investing in things like education and clean energy that are so critical  to creating jobs and opportunities for the middle class.  It’s a simple  idea: we need to live within our means while at the same time investing  in our future.

That’s why I disagree so strongly with a proposal in Congress that cuts  our investments in clean energy by 70 percent. Yes, we have to get rid  of wasteful spending – and make no mistake, we’re going through every  line of the budget scouring for savings. But we can do that without  sacrificing our future.  We can do that while still investing in the  technologies that will create jobs and allow the United States to lead  the world in new industries.  That’s how we’ll not only reduce the  deficit, but also lower our dependence on foreign oil, grow the economy,  and leave for our children a safer planet.  And that’s what our mission  has to be.

Thanks for listening, and have a great weekend.