George W. Bush - 4 months ago."We will not play politics with the strategic petroleum reserve," Bush told reporters at the White House after a cabinet meeting.
"The idea of emptying the strategic petroleum reserve ... would put America in a dangerous position in the war on terror," he said.
"We're at war. We face a tough and determined enemy on all fronts, and we must not put ourselves in a worse position in this war. And playing politics with the strategic petroleum reserve would do just that."
Energy Secretary Abraham, today:
The federal government said Thursday it plans to loan out a limited amount of crude oil from the nation's strategic reserve in a bid to offset shortages caused by Hurricane Ivan.
The move comes less than six weeks ahead of the presidential election, and could help ease oil shortages and rising gasoline prices in Florida, Louisiana and other battleground states.
The Energy Department said it would negotiate with companies whose oil refineries were affected by the storm.
"I have authorized these negotiations in response to the physical disruption of offshore oil production and imports in the Gulf Region caused by Hurricane Ivan's destruction," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in a statement.
You heard it, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is there to protect us in the war on terror, we will not play politics with it. Unless hurricanes hit swing states near the election, of course.
Now, just to point out, this is the right decision, and I wish we would do more of this. But if flip-flopping is the defining issue of this campaign season, then here's a prime example.