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Obama urges opening oil reserves Obama urges opening oil reserves
(about 3 hours later)
US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has outlined his plans to tackle the growing cost of energy and its impact on the American economy. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has called for the US to dip into its strategic oil reserves to lower fuel prices in the short-term.
It is an issue that is expected to play a critical role in the presidential election in November. Senator Obama's call, a reversal of his earlier stance, came as he unveiled an energy plan designed, he said, to reduce US dependence on foreign oil.
In a reversal of policy, Mr Obama said the US should release 70m barrels of oil from its strategic reserves to lower petrol prices in the short term. Both Mr Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, are focusing on ways of tackling the high cost of energy.
He also suggested releasing more of the national petroleum reserve in Alaska. It is a key issue as campaigning for November's election intensifies.
Mr Obama reiterated a statement made at the weekend that he could support limited US offshore oil drilling if it were needed to enact a compromise energy policy. Mr Obama, speaking on Monday as he celebrated his 47th birthday, put forward plans to reduce US dependence on foreign oil in 10 years.
In a similar reversal, his Republican rival, John McCain, has expressed his support for new offshore drilling, as part of an energy plan that includes nuclear energy and tax relief on gas production. "Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face," Mr Obama said as he visited Michigan, home to the ailing US car industry and set to be a key battleground state in the election.
Mr Obama said US politicians had failed for three decades to deal with the energy crisis, and that Mr McCain had been "part of that failure." In a new TV advert he accuses Mr McCain of being under the sway of big oil firms.
The ad shows Mr McCain with President George W Bush, as a narrator says: "After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can't afford another."
JUSTIN WEBB'S AMERICA Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face Barack Obama Hitting back
A spokesman for Republican Senator McCain said the advert was misleading.
The advert's narrator says that "big oil's filling John McCain's campaign with $2m in contributions".
The ad also promotes Mr Obama's plan to use a windfall profits tax on big oil companies to give American families a $1,000 (£508) tax rebate, at a time when many are struggling with high energy prices.
'Suffering'
In a statement, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said the advert failed to mention that Mr Obama had voted in favour of a 2005 bill giving tax breaks to energy producers.
Mr McCain voted against the bill, which was supported by Mr Bush.
"Barack Obama's latest negative attack ad shows his celebrity is matched only by his hypocrisy," Mr Bounds said.
"Also not mentioned is the $400,000 from big oil contributors that Barack Obama has already pocketed in this election."
Mr Obama said his proposal to sell 70 million barrels from the reserve could help in the short term to drive down the price of petrol at the pump.
His call to release oil from the US strategic reserves represents a change from the energy policy he proposed in June, in which he advocated keeping the reserve intact in case of emergency.
Mr McCain wants new areas of the US coastline opened for offshore drilling
Campaign spokeswoman Heather Zichal said Mr Obama had reconsidered.
"He recognises that Americans are suffering," she said.
During a speech in Lansing, Michigan, Mr Obama said: "Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face.
"It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy.""It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy."
Mr Obama proposed releasing light crude oil from the stockpile, to be replaced at a later date with heavy crude oil. Mood
Light crude oil is easier to turn into fuel for vehicles and other petroleum products. His most immediate proposal was to release 70 million barrels of crude oil held in federal stockpiles as a means of lowering petrol prices, with stocks to be replaced at a later date.
The Bush administration has opposed tapping the reserve, saying it should be kept for dire emergencies. In 2005, some 10 million barrels were released in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, after supplies to refineries were disrupted. Tapping the strategic oil reserve is not a substitute for a real plan to increase supply through additional drilling and nuclear power Tucker Bounds McCain campaign spokesman
Mr Obama's comments came two days after he confirmed he was broadly supportive of a plan for energy independence, which includes limited offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Obama had previously advocated keeping the reserve intact in case of emergency, but his spokeswoman Heather Zichal said he had reconsidered.
"He recognises that Americans are suffering," she said.
Among the other proposals in Mr Obama's speech were:
  • a renewed call for a $1,000 (£500) energy rebate for low and middle-income families, paid for by a windfall tax on oil companies
  • five million new jobs to be created by investing $150bn over the next 10 years to help private efforts on clean energy
  • the US to generate 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2012, 25% by 2025
  • one million fuel-efficient hybrid cars to be put on the road by 2015
The focus on energy by the two presidential hopefuls shows the increasing importance of the issue to voters.
Whichever contender captures the American mood on this is likely to capture the White House, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington.
Last week, Mr Obama modified his opposition to a federal ban on drilling off the US coast for oil, saying he could support limited and environmentally-sound drilling as part of a compromise energy package.
Senator McCain, who has changed his previous opposition to offshore drilling, now argues that it is necessary.
"Anybody who says that we can achieve energy independence without using and increasing these existing energy resources either doesn't have the experience to understand the challenge that we face or isn't giving the American people some straight talk," Mr McCain said during campaigning in Pennsylvania.
Poll numbers
As he detailed his energy plans, Mr Obama also rolled out a new TV advert that suggested Mr McCain was under the sway of big oil firms.
John McCain now believes drilling off the US coastline is needed
The ad shows Mr McCain with President George W Bush, as a narrator says: "After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can't afford another."
In response, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said the advert failed to mention that Mr Obama had voted in favour of a 2005 bill giving tax breaks to energy producers, a bill Mr McCain had opposed.
"Barack Obama's latest negative attack ad shows his celebrity is matched only by his hypocrisy," said Mr Bounds in a statement.
Mr Bounds also attacked Mr Obama's proposal to open up the oil reserves.
"Tapping the strategic oil reserve is not a substitute for a real plan to increase supply through additional drilling and nuclear power," he said.
"The last release of oil from the strategic reserve came in response to Hurricane Katrina, but the only crisis that has developed since Barack Obama last rejected the idea two months ago is a slide in his poll numbers."
The trading of arguments comes as opinion polls suggest neither man has a clear lead with 91 days to go until the 4 November election.