From Fall 2000:
On 18 Sept. George W. Bush begins a week-long campaign aimed at winning back the support of middle-class voters in general, and of women in particular. The Bush campaign releases a 16-page "Blueprint for the Middle Class," which Gore advisers say is all "pictures and no substance."
Speaking outside an oil distribution company in Maryland (21 Sept.), Vice President Al Gore accuses the oil industry of "profiteering" and urges President Clinton to draw on the country’s emergency oil reserve with a view to driving oil prices down. The reserve (currently 571 million barrels of crude oil) was created in the wake of the 1970s oil crises: it is designed to shield the US from disruptions in oil supply. The last time the government dipped into the reserve was in 1991, against the backdrop of the Persian Gulf War.
George W. Bush claims (20 Sept.) that the Clinton administration should "be held accountable for a failed energy policy" which did not encourage domestic oil production. He also advises a more confrontational approach with OPEC countries.
The Department of Energy announces that one million barrels of oil a day will be released for 30 days from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (22 Sept.). George W. Bush criticizes the move.
Speaking in Michigan in response to Al Gore’s energy initiative, George W. Bush proposes opening 8 percent of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. He suggests using the royalties and bidding fees for conservation programs and to provide heat for the poor (29 Sept.). http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/CEAA/CRESAB/chrono-us-0900-mp.htmlSo, Mr. Bush: WHAT ABOUT YOUR FUCKING FAILED ENERGY POLICY???????