Obama turns attention to energy in key states

LAS VEGAS - President Obama promoted the sale of new oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico and the promise of cars running on natural gas, defending his energy agenda Thursday against critics who say his policies have stifled domestic energy production.

"We need an all-out, all-in, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every source of American energy - a strategy that's cleaner and cheaper and full of new jobs," Obama said at a Nevada UPS center, flanked by large trucks bearing the company's logos.

Obama announced plans for the sale of new oil and gas drilling leases for nearly 38 million acres in the central Gulf of Mexico and highlighted the completion of a highway corridor for vehicles that run on liquefied natural gas. It came days after he drew sharp Republican criticism for rejecting a cross-country oil pipeline that would have delivered Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Texas.

The parcels the Obama administration is putting up for lease in June are part of an offshore drilling plan for 2007-12 put in place by President George W. Bush. But after the massive BP oil spill led to an overhaul of the government's oversight of offshore exploration and production, some of those areas had to be re-evaluated for the environmental risks associated with drilling, in some cases delaying the original auction date.

The two leases that will be sold off next summer were originally scheduled for 2011 and this year.

"We're going to keep moving on American energy," Obama said.

Combined with other parts of Obama's energy pitch, the White House is portraying the president as willing to seek the middle ground on energy after Republicans and the industry criticized him for the moratorium put in place after the Gulf disaster, the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, and other policies they say have hampered production, jobs and national energy security.

Some of those critics on Thursday weren't convinced anything has changed. They accused Obama of taking credit for work done to increase oil and gas production by previous administrations.

"Announcing a scheduled lease sale that doesn't open any new areas for energy production and that should have happened a year ago shouldn't be a 'major announcement,"' said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.