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Bush visits Ohio, renews push for offshore oil drilling

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — President Bush, pressuring lawmakers to act on gas prices before they break for the summer, challenged Congress again Tuesday to relent on offshore oil drilling.

Bush has lifted an executive ban on exploratory drilling for oil in the waters along both the East and West coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But the move won’t have any effect unless Congress lifts its own prohibition on drilling off America’s coastlines.

That appears doubtful at best, but Bush keeps prodding.

“Now it’s up to the United States Congress to make a decision as to whether or not you’re going to continue to face high gasoline prices at the pump,” Bush told workers at Lincoln Electric, a suburban Cleveland welding manufacturer.

About 100 AFL-CIO members wearing red shirts booed and made thumbs down gestures as Bush’s motorcade passed on the way to Lincoln Electric.

The protesters gathered in front of an expanse of vacant parking lots outside of the defunct Euclid Square Mall.

“If you look around here, you see a wasteland,” said Harriet Applegate, executive secretary for the North Shore AFL-CIO. “Northeast Ohio has been incredibly hard hit by the Bush administration.”

AFL-CIO member Gaelynn Dooley, 24, said the success of Lincoln Electric was not representative of industry in the rest of the region.

“Our message today is that we need politicians who are accountable to working families,” Dooley said. “We’ve been hemorrhaging 340 jobs a day in Ohio.”

Just down the road, 8-year-old J.J. Conway held a “Go McCain” sign and greeted Bush’s motorcade along with his mom, Rebecca, and brother, Matthew, 4.

“We’re here supporting President Bush because there’s so many anti-Bush people,” said Rebecca Conway, 36, who held a sign that read “My Pro-Life President.”

“He’s worked hard and made a big impact on the social issues. He’s defended our country and kept us safe.”

Democrats maintain that more drilling isn’t the answer. And they argue a point the White House itself concedes — allowing offshore drilling is not going to lower gas prices now.

Bush himself said, “It took us a while to get to this position, and it’s going to take us a while to get out of it.”

Still, Bush says more drilling would send an important signal to the world that the United States is serious about expanding the oil supply. He says it can be done in environmentally safe ways, but opponents fear oil spills and drops in coastal tourism.

The soaring cost of gasoline has turned energy policy into a kitchen-table issue. Millions of people who rely on their cars are eager to get some help from elected leaders — and those leaders, especially those up for election, want to show some action.

“If we’re worried about your gasoline price and recognize that it’s high because of the price of crude oil, and it’s possible to find more oil right here in the United States ... doesn’t it make sense to try to find that oil?” Bush said. “I think it does.”

Bush also pushed for nuclear power and other forms of alternative energy.

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are in a stalemate over how to rein in energy prices. Using the country’s frustration as leverage, the president is trying to build pressure on lawmakers to take action before they leave town for their August recess.

A gallon of gasoline costs $3.94 nationwide, down slightly from a month ago, according to a daily survey of gas stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The cost varies across the country, with several states topping $4 a gallon.

The average cost a year ago was $2.89 per gallon — more than a dollar below today’s cost.

Bush says many Americans are suddenly practicing their own version of conservation.

“It’s interesting to note that many of our consumers have already made the decision to switch away from automobiles, like SUVs that consume a lot of gasoline, to smaller cars,” Bush said. “Why? Because you’re smart. You know how to handle your own business.

After his energy speech, Bush raised some cash for the Congressional Trust, a Republican campaign fund for congressional candidates. The event was expected to raise $530,000.

The fundraiser was held in Gates Mills, a Cleveland suburb, at the home of insurance executive Umberto Fedeli in the Cleveland suburb of Gates Mills.

Like most of Bush’s fundraisers this year, the event was closed to the media.

On his way out of town, Bush stopped his motorcade so he could get out and wish a happy birthday to a local woman, Ruth Harris, who was celebrating her 91st birthday.

Bush sat in a chair next to Harris and said “91 years old — how special.”

When neighbors noticed what was happening, they soon surrounded the president for a moment with him too.