Obama counters ‘drill, baby, drill’ in preview of energy speech

President Obama last night previewed his upcoming energy speech by calling for a response to rising gasoline prices that extends far beyond the GOP’s "drill, baby, drill" slogan, made popular in the 2008 campaign.

Obama’s speech Wednesday is slated to call for sharply reducing oil imports through measures including domestic production, continued auto efficiency improvements and greater deployment of alternative fuel vehicles.

“We still have a lot of work to do on energy. You know, tomorrow I'm going to give an energy speech. The last time gas prices were this high was in 2008 when I was running [for president]. And you remember what was going on right back then. The other side kept on talking about ‘drill, baby, drill,’ ” Obama said Tuesday night at an event for Democratic donors in New York City.

“What we were talking about was breaking the pattern of being shocked at high prices and then, as prices go down, being lulled into a trance, but instead let’s actually have a plan. Let’s — yes — increase domestic oil production, but let’s also invest in solar and wind and geothermal and biofuels, and let’s make our buildings more efficient and our cars more efficient. Not all of that work is done yet, but I’m not finished yet,” Obama added, according to a White House transcript.

House Republicans unveiled legislation Tuesday that would mandate a major widening of offshore areas available for drilling.

White House and Interior Department officials say they back expanded U.S. oil production, but are ramping up claims that oil-and-gas companies are failing to tap massive acreage that’s already under lease onshore and offshore.

The White House, in a “fact sheet” circulated early Wednesday ahead of Obama’s speech, says Interior is “developing incentives for expedited development of oil and gas production from existing and future leases.”

“For its offshore leasing program, the DOI has already begun to employ incentives, including the shortening of some lease terms to encourage earlier development, and requiring drilling to begin before an extension can be granted on a lease. DOI is also evaluating the potential use of graduated royalty rate structures, such as those adopted by the State of Texas, to encourage more rapid production,” the White House said.