Obama may back gas plan

President Barack Obama is going to effectively join Dallas investors in switching U.S. vehicles to natural gas and off oil. Now Obama will effectively endorse legislation that would provide new incentives for natural gas powered trucks and transit buses.

The president will highlight the proposal during a speech at Gorgetown University, where he will call for cutting oil imports by one-third in a decade.

DRILLING

GOP wants to put emphasis on expanding oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and other federal waters. House Republicans intruduced several bills that aim to expand drilling by accelerating the timeframe for approving drilling permits and selling more leases. Democrats have repeatedly argured that oil companies aren't maximizing the federal resourses that are currently availible to them.

The Interior Department reported the Gulf of Mexico and one-half of onshore leases are sitting idle. Oil industry groups quickly rebutted the report, saying the administration has delayed and blocked access to domestic oil since february 2009.

In the speech Obama will call for "new and better incentives" to accelerate production on existing leases. He'll call for new Refineries to produce advanced biofuels and improved vehicle fuel efficiency standards for the 2017-2025 model year.

BACKING

The plan had significant bipartisan support last year, but it did not advance in the senate because Democratic and Republican lawmakers couldn't agree on how to pay the incentives.

Someone said a new version of legislation would cost $5 billion. Past versions of the legislation have called for increased tax credits for buyers of natural gas-powered vehicles. Even with Republican support Obama embrace of natural gas isn't without risk. Liberal Democrats and many enviromental groups say drinking water supplies could be contaminated by gas drilling in states such as Pennsylvania and New York. The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the impact of drilling on water supplies.

And Republicans might not rush to work with Obama on his energy-security plan.