Pres Obama to Announce Plan to Lower Gas Prices; Critics Dismiss Efforts

(AP File)

President Obama will announce his proposal Wednesday on how to lower gas prices in the United States, with a plan to cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil by about one-third in the next 10 years. But critics say that trimming reliance on foreign oil won't actually pay off for consumers - in the short or long run.

Senior Administration officials say Wednesday's speech will mark a new "concerted focus" on overall energy policy and that while the president will be paying close attention to Libya and the ongoing situation in the Middle East, energy consumption and how it affects Americans will be on the front burner.

In a phone call with reporters on Tuesday, Senior Administration officials said the speech on energy will not be like speeches in the past by other presidents - with solutions that were more politically motivated, and instead will focus on energy and improving jobs and the U.S. economy, but critics say the goal of cutting foreign oil won't do anything to help the economic situation in the U.S.

Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation says he believes the speech Wednesday will focus on "pushing for uneconomical alternatives such as biofuels and electric vehicles" and those will actually hurt taxpayers in the end.

Loris says no matter how many proposals are included in the speech, there's still a price set on oil that can't really be changed.

"It's important to understand that oil is global commodity. Its price is set globally, not locally. Even if the U.S. became a net exporter of oil, we would still be susceptible to price shocks and rising global demand pushing up prices," Loris told Fox News.

"Also, attempting to produce all our oil domestically without regard to economics will not cut off money going to unfriendly nations as some may believe. If we don't buy it, someone else will."

For its part, the White House is says the policy is not only focused on domestic oil production as the "only solution" and that the policy is about a broad range of issues - which includes bio-fuels, natural gas and fleet management, meaning more electric cars, trucks and buses.