Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is vowing to end US dependence on Middle East oil within 10 years if elected president, according to excerpts released ahead of his speech to the Democratic Party Thursday in Denver.
"For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: in 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East," Obama said.
Obama was nominated Wednesday night by the Democratic Party and is to accept the nod before a throng of 75,000 people at Denver's Invesco Field.
It's not the first time that Obama has made the pledge about oil dependence, but it is prominent within a speech that sets his goals as president.
Obama took aim at his presumptive Republican rival John McCain, charging that the Arizona senator had been in Congress for 26 of the 30 years that Washington has been talking about "our oil addiction."
"In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels," Obama said. "And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office."
Obama is also to note that more US workers are jobless or "working harder for less," and more have lost their homes and are falling behind on their credit-card bills and university tuition payments.
" America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this," Obama was to say, the dpa reported.