English subtitles for clip: File:2012-03-17 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
Hi, everybody.

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As I know you've noticed
over the past few weeks,

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the price at your local pump
has been going up and up.

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And because it's
an election year,

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so has the temperature of
our political rhetoric.

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What matters most to me right
now is the impact that rising

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prices have on you.

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When you've got to
spend more on gas,

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you've got less to spend
on everything else.

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It makes things harder.

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So I wanted to take a minute
this weekend to explain what

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steps my Administration is
taking when it comes to energy

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-- most importantly,
producing more of it while using

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less of it.

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The truth is: the price of gas
depends on a lot of factors that

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are often beyond our control.

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Unrest in the Middle East can
tighten global oil supply.

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Growing nations like China or
India adding cars to the road

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increases demand.

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But one thing we should control
is fraud and manipulation that

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can cause prices to
spike even further.

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For years, traders at financial
firms were able to game the

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energy markets, distort
the price of oil,

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and make big profits for
themselves at your expense.

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And they were able to do all
that because of major gaps and

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loopholes in our regulations.

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When I took office, we
did something about it.

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The Wall Street reforms I signed
into law are helping bring

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energy markets out of
the shadows and under

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real oversight.

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They're strengthening our
ability to go after fraud and to

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prevent traders from
manipulating the market.

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So it's not just wrong, but
dangerous that some in Congress

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want to roll back those
protections and return to the

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days when companies like Enron
could avoid regulation and reap

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enormous profits, no
matter who it hurt.

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What's more, at a time when big
oil companies are making more

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money than ever before, we're
still giving them $4 billion of

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your tax dollars in
subsidies every year.

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Your member of Congress
should be fighting for you.

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Not for big financial firms.

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Not for big oil companies.

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In the next few weeks, I expect
Congress to vote on ending

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these subsidies.

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And when they do, we're going
to put every single Member of

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Congress on record: They can
either stand up for the oil

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companies, or they can stand
up for the American people.

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They can either place their bets
on a fossil fuel from the last

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century, or they can place
their bets on America's future.

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So make your voice heard.

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Send your
representative an email.

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Give them a call.

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Tell them to stand with you.

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And tell them to
be honest with you.

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It's easy to promise a quick
fix when it comes to gas prices.

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There just isn't one.

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Anyone who tells
you otherwise --

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any career politician who
promises some three-point plan

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for two-dollar gas -- they're
not looking for a solution.

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They're just looking
for your vote.

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If we're truly going to make
sure we're not at the mercy of

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spikes in gas prices every year,
the answer isn't just going to

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be to drill more -- because
we're already drilling more.

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Under my Administration, we're
producing more oil here at home

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than at any time in the last
eight years, that's a fact.

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We've quadrupled the number of
operating oil rigs to a record

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high, that's a fact.

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And we've opened millions of
acres of land and offshore to

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develop more of our
domestic resources.

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Those are the facts.

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We can't just rely on drilling.

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Not when we use more than
20% of the world's oil,

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but still only have 2% of the
world's known oil reserves.

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If we don't develop
other sources of energy,

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and the technology
to use less energy,

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we'll continue to be dependent
on foreign countries for our

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energy needs.

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That's why we're pursuing an
all-of-the-above strategy.

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As we develop more oil and gas,
we're also developing wind and

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solar power; biofuels, and
next-generation vehicles --

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and thousands of Americans have
jobs right now because of it.

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We need to keep making
those investments --

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because I don't want
to see those jobs go to

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other countries.

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I want to create even more of
them right here in the United

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States of America.

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And after three
decades of inaction,

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we raised fuel economy standards
so that by the middle of the

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next decade, our cars will
average nearly 55 miles

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per gallon.

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That's nearly double
what they get today.

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That means you'll only have to
fill up every two weeks instead

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of every week.

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And that will save the typical
family more than $8,000 over the

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life of the car --
just by using less gas.

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Combined, these steps have
helped put us on a path to

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greater energy independence.

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Since I took office, America's
dependence on foreign oil has

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gone down every single year.

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In 2010, for the first
time in 13 years,

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less than half the oil we used
came from foreign countries.

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But we can do even better.

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And we will.

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What we can't do is keep
depending on other countries for

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our energy needs.

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In America we control
our own destiny.

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And that's the choice we face
-- the past, or the future.

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America is what it is today
because we've always placed our

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bets on the future.

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Thanks, and have
a great weekend.