Worried Democrats press Obama to drill into the strategic oil reserve

 Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy
An aerial view of the Bryan Mound storage site of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Democrats have spent their lives thwarting development of new fossil fuels, but they are willing to drill into the nations strategic oil reserve if it will get them past the next election.


The Hill:

Congressional Democrats are ramping up pressure on President Obama to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to prevent rising gas prices from threatening the economy and their election-year prospects.

They are growing anxious that the price of fuel could reverse their political fortunes, which had been improving due to signs of growth in the economy.

Republicans have hammered Democrats on the price spike, repeatedly noting that gas prices — now at $3.72 per gallon for regular — have doubled since Obama won the White House. [...]

Senior Democratic lawmakers and vulnerable incumbents want Obama to consider releasing tens of millions of barrels of oil stored in the SPR’s special salt caverns along the Gulf Coast.

“We may need it because this is a central issue to economic recovery. I don’t rule that out if there isn’t a move in the right direction,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the second-ranking Democratic leader in the upper chamber.

“If it’s going to jeopardize economic recovery, the president should seriously consider it,” Durbin added. Keep on reading...