Obama pushes efficiency, alternative fuels

WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- President Obama told AAA his first car, a Ford Granada, "was not the peak of Detroit engineering" but said the carmaker is "doing great now."

Obama sat down for the interview with AAA as part of his two-day, four-state energy tour touting his administration's efforts to create a long-term energy strategy for the country, The Hill reported.

Obama said his first car, handed down from his grandfather, "rattled and it shook, and I don't think the girls were particularly impressed when I came to pick them up in a Ford Granada."

"But you know what? It moved, and so I have fond memories of the fact that it got me to where I needed to go. That's about all I can say about the Ford Granada," he said, adding, "Ford is doing great now."

Obama said the key to America's energy future is reducing dependence on foreign oil through increased fuel efficiency and investment in alternative fuels.

"The most important thing I can do as a president is not to simply focus on tomorrow; it's focusing on getting America properly aiming towards our goal of continuing to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said, adding illegal oil market speculation must be prosecuted but there are no silver bullets to deal with high gas prices.

"Right now the key thing that is driving higher gas prices is actually the world's oil markets and uncertainty about what's going on in Iran and the Middle East, and that's adding a $20 or $30 premium to oil prices, and that affects obviously gas prices," Obama told AAA.

"What's also driving it, and this is something that's not going to reverse, is increasing demand in countries like China and India. In 2010, for example, China added 10 million cars just in that one year. So as more and more people around the world see their standards of living rising, they purchase cars, they have demand for oil, that creates a greater demand worldwide and that raises the price.

"That's why we've got to make sure that we don't just focus on production. We've also got to focus on fuel efficiency; we've also got to focus on alternatives. If we don't, we're going to continue to be subject to these kinds of price spikes anytime something happens around the world," he said.