The president is revered by environmental groups for taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that come from burning fossil fuels, such as signing higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and protecting more land and water than any other president. But when he discusses the recovering economy, Obama often touts the fact that the United States now produces the most oil and natural gas in the world and the benefits that has yielded, such as $2 per gallon gasoline.
That divergence came into focus Tuesday when the administration released the draft of its five-year offshore drilling plan for 2017 through 2022.
The plan seeks to both appease the environmentally minded voters who helped get Obama elected twice and to ward off harsh criticism from an energy industry that contends the president is riding on private-sector accomplishments. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell acknowledged the tension between permitting expanded oil and gas development and the administration's stated goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say drive climate change.
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