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Obama's budget proposal draws mixed review from energy circles

The president's FY2015 budget proposal is stacked to be handed out by the Senate Budget Committee for distribution to Senate staff on Capitol Hill March 4, 2014, in Washington D.C. UPI/Molly Riley
The president's FY2015 budget proposal is stacked to be handed out by the Senate Budget Committee for distribution to Senate staff on Capitol Hill March 4, 2014, in Washington D.C. UPI/Molly Riley | License Photo

WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- While President Obama's 2015 budget request includes $169 million in new funding for offshore energy, the oil industry said there was nothing new in the deal.

President Obama released his budget proposal Tuesday that seeks $3.9 trillion in spending.

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Tommy Beaudreau, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said $169 million in funding for his department would help it manage offshore energy development, including lease sales for oil and gas reserves on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

"The president's [budget] request reflects careful analysis of the resources needed to advance renewable and conventional energy, manage non-energy OCS mineral resources and invest in what's needed to grow the economy," he said in a statement Tuesday.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called the budget request "irresponsible."

Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, which enjoys Republican support, said Obama is "recycling" previous requests to increase taxes on the oil and natural gas sector.

"Higher energy taxes would set back the president's own goal of addressing income inequality and undermine his ability to achieve his climate goals," he said in a statement.

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Obama said in a statement the budget ensures "the middle class can feel secure in their jobs, homes, and budgets."

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