In his radio address yesterday, Bush did more of the “blaming Democrats” for the high oil prices, through their rejection of lifting the offshore drilling ban:

First, we should expand American oil production by increasing access to the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that the OCS could produce enough oil to match America’s current production for almost ten years. The problem is that Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980s. So I’ve called on the House and Senate to lift this legislative ban and give states the option of opening up OCS resources off their shores while protecting the environment. There’s also an executive prohibition on exploration in the OCS, which I will lift when Congress lifts the legislative ban.

Here’s what the right-wing Wall Street Journal said about it this past week:

Mr. Bush argued that leaving most of America’s immense offshore oil-and-gas resources off-limits was “outdated and counterproductive,” and he called on Congress to end its quarter-century ban. Fair enough. But the ban actually has two components, one of which is a 1990 executive order; like launching a warhead, both keys must be turned. Mr. Bush said he would only turn his after Congress did.

Catch that? There are actually two bans in place. The one Bush conveniently fails to mention is the 1990 Presidential ban put in place by his father. Funny how that works. Even right wing bloggers like Malkin are calling Bush’s bluff on this.

Bush also called for opening up ANWR in his radio address. I already posted about the huge savings we would see with that earlier this week. Yes we can see a $0.02 savings per gallon by 2025 if we start drilling in ANWR. What a great help that would be!