Oil lobby seeks to work with Obama

(With an obligatory )

One of President Barack Obama’s fiercest critics, the head of the US’s powerful oil and gas industry lobby, has signalled the potential for better collaboration during Mr Obama’s second term, thanks in no small part to the unexpected fossil fuel boom that has put the country on track to become the world’s largest energy producer.

After four years of combat between the American Petroleum Institute and the White House, Jack Gerard, the lead representative of 500 oil and natural gas companies, said he is hopeful that the president will keep his re-election campaign commitment to promote the industries as crucial to economic growth and energy independence.

An important first measure of the president’s commitment over the next six months will be whether he approves the construction of a controversial pipeline to bring oil from Canada to the US that was previously blocked, he said.

“If the president approves the Keystone XL Pipeline that will be a very positive indicator that he’s going to fulfil the promises he made to the public,” said Mr Gerard, a staunch supporter of Mitt Romney who was tipped as a potential chief of staff in a Republican White House.

full: http://liveweb.archive.org/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c18706c-486c-11e2-a6b3-00144feab49a.html

I watched Moyers and Company this weekend. In a show from two weeks ago, Moyers played a video from 2009 of Obama speaking about his commitment to limit lobbyists' influence. Now look what the president's doing.