White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tweeted a comment of Speaker John Boehner’s, R-Ohio, that seemed to absolve President Obama of responsibility for high gas prices, sparking a twit-for-tat over energy policy and the Keystone XL pipeline.
Boehner’s press secretary, Brendan Buck, had tweeted several criticisms of Obama blocking the Keystone pipeline, but the exchange in earnest began when Carney quoted Boehner using language now found regularly in President Obama’s energy policy speeches.
Brendan Buck quickly defended his boss.
Buck also tweeted that “the total onshore acreage leased under the administration in ’09 and ’10 is the lowest in over two decades,” adding moments later that “under the Obama administration, 2010 had the LOWEST number of onshore leases issued since 1984.” This earlier tweet, though, seems to have gotten Carney’s attention:
Carney adopted the formula of that tweet in this response:
Obama’s press secretary then suggested that the fuel efficiency standards amount to better energy policy than the Keystone pipeline.
Buck had a quick reply, but Carney blamed Republicans for Obama not giving a permit for the Keystone pipeline.
Carney then shot back a sarcastic crack about the low approval rating of Congress.
He also responded to the substance of the critique.
Buck counter by tweeting a link to this Politico story, “On Keystone, Nebraska’s [Gov.] Heineman is not a ‘no,'” in which the Nebraska governor called for “at a minimum . . . a conditional yes.”
Carney hadn’t replied to that last tweet from Buck at the time of this posting, but you can follow Carney and Buck for updates.
