Since 1973, eight presidents have pledged to free the US from dependence on oil imported from the volatile Middle East and other unfriendly areas. Like Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George W Bush before him, Barack Obama has been forced to address the issue under political duress.. With soaring crude-oil prices causing pain at the fuel pump and threatening economic growth - not to mention his bid for re-election in 2012, launched this week - Obama's response was what presidents do: unveil a "comprehensive national energy policy".
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