Bush meets with IFDA execs about energy

President George W. Bush met August 12 with International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) Chairman John Martin and IFDA President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Allen, along with other business leaders and trade group representatives who founded the Coalition for Affordable American Energy (CAAE).

Bush called the meeting to get the insights of industry leaders on national energy policy. The one-hour meeting included business leaders from wholesale distribution, construction, the franchise industry, and manufacturing, among others.

The president said a comprehensive energy strategy should include the development of alternative energy technologies, conservation measures, and more oil exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

CAAE is joining with House and Senate Republicans and the White House in advocating an "all of the above" comprehensive approach to national energy needs. The most controversial element is support for lifting the moratorium to allow states to decide whether to open their OCS to oil drilling.

Since 1982, Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS. Two subsequent presidential directives enacted and extended a blanket moratorium on all unleased areas off the coast of most of the United States (the primary exception being the western Gulf of Mexico). Bush announced July 14 that he was lifting the executive ban on OCS oil exploration, and it is now up to Congress to lift its moratorium. Recent polls show that nearly 70 percent of Americans favor allowing expanded drilling off the coast.