Alaska’s reliance on oil and gas production is in line with the U.S.’ “all-of-the-above approach” to developing domestic energy, an Obama administration official claimed Tuesday.
“Responsibly developing Arctic oil and gas resources aligns with United States’ ‘all-of-the-above’ approach,” Amy Pope, vice chairwoman of the White House Arctic Executive Steering Committee, said at an event sponsored by the Arctic Energy Center.
She made the comments at an Atlantic Council event on Geopolitics, Security, and Energy in the Arctic.
All types of energy are welcome, Pope said, “whether it’s renewables, expanding oil and gas production, increasing efficiency and conservation efforts to reduce our reliance on imported oil, and strengthening our nation’s energy security.”
Pope’s comments suggest the Obama administration might be accepting fossil fuel production as a valid form of energy. A shift in position would essentially place President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party at loggerheads.
The phrase “all of the above” does not appear once in the 2016 Democratic Party platform, even though the phrase “clean energy” appears 27 times. In fact, the document dedicates an entire section of its table of contents to “Creating Good-Paying Clean Energy Jobs.”
