 July 5, 2008
Posted: 09:46 AM ET
From CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano 
President Bush holds a press conference before leaving for Europe last month.
 WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush heads to Japan for his final G-8 summit of world leaders on Saturday, as the global economy slumps, energy prices soar and food shortages loom in the developing world. Bush says he will press other leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations to follow through on their commitments from earlier summits, but has warned there is nothing he or anyone else can do in the short term about oil prices. "It took us awhile to get into the energy situation we're in and it's going to take us awhile to get out of it," he said Wednesday in an appearance at the Rose Garden to preview his trip. He continued to advocate more drilling in currently protected areas of the U.S. as a medium-term fix for skyrocketing fuel costs. "Ultimately, of course, we're going to transition away from hydrocarbon. But we're now just in a transitional period and we need more oil to be able to do so," he said. Bush's main economic goal at the summit may be defensive, said David Gergen, former adviser to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. "What's essential in this summit for George W. Bush is to make sure the world economy does not spin downward," he said. Yet Bush is not raising expectations about what he and the other G-8 leaders can realistically accomplish on the economic front. "One thing we need to make clear when I'm with our partners is that we're not going to become protectionists; that we believe in free trade and open markets," he said Wednesday. A former administration official who served on the National Security Council under Bush says the G-8's purpose is not to come up with quick solutions. Filed under: G-8 • President Bush |
 
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