Republicans Bristle At Obama's Use of 'All of the Above' on Energy As taglines go, "All of the above" is not exactly phenomenal, lacking the sex appeal of its energy-policy sister, "Drill, baby, drill," and the historic resonance of, say, "Where's the beef?" It conjures a standardized test more than economic stimulus. But President Obama's use of the phrase to describe his current energy policy leanings - signaling yes to a combination of domestic drilling, alternative energy and conservation - is driving Republicans nuts, because the phrase has been a product of their party's energy platform for years. They find it especially galling since Mr. Obama made moves to block, for now, part of the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline. Mr. Obama has used the phrase while visiting oil-rich areas of the country, and his administration is promoting it every chance it gets. It is hard to know precisely how "all of the above" came to pertain to energy, although Senator John McCain and his running mate in 2008, former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, made good use of it in their presidential campaign, along with "drill, baby, drill" and that underdog maxim, "mine, baby, mine." But it may well have been conceived in 2000 on the floor of the House, when Representative Benjamin A. Gilman, Republican of New York, gave a lengthy speech on energy, saying: "We need to be exploring alternative energy sources, the use of coal, the use of hydroelectric power, of biomass, geothermal, photovoltaic, solar thermal and wind, utilizing ethanol, creating a system of electric reliability, increasing the exploration and supply of natural gas, and retrofitting or building cost-efficient oil refineries. In addition, we need to utilize government land for responsible oil and natural gas exploration. Mr. Gilman also said that the American Petroleum Institute at the time advocated "that an effective national energy policy must, at a minimum, allow for all of the above." In 2007, other Republican members picked up the phrase, including Representative Zach Wamp of Tennessee, who called himself "an all-of-the-above energy guy," to The Chattanooga Times Free-Press. The phrase has been popularized by Republicans throughout the last decade but came into its own during the 2008 campaign, beginning on the Hill. "There's no question that if we're ever going to begin to seriously move toward energy independence," said John A. Boehner, then the minority leader and now the speaker, "which is good for our national security and, frankly, very good for our economy - that we have to do all of the above." Clark Stevens, a White House spokesman, dismissed the issue of catchphrase appropriation, saying that Mr. Obama embodies the notion that Republicans popularized. "By pursuing an energy agenda that is expanding domestic oil and gas production, with oil production at an eight-year high," he said, "effectively doubling renewable energy from sources like wind and solar in his first term, providing funding for the first new nuclear power plant in 30 years, and investing in advanced technologies and R&D that will help America be a leader in the 21st-century energy economy, it's clear that from the beginning the president, unlike many who have used the phrase in the past, has actually embraced a true all-of-the-above approach." Domestic oil production has increased during the Obama administration, largely through the continuation of policies put in place by President George W. Bush. But in the face of rising gas prices and increased criticism from Republicans, Mr. Obama, who has previously tried to keep his environmentalist base voters at bay on this issue, has begun to push his "all of the above" notions aggressively; this week, the White House announced in Oklahoma that it would expedite the southern half of the Keystone XL pipeline. "We're pleased the president is now supporting Republicans" "all-of-the-above" energy strategy with his words," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, "but his actions tell a different story. Blocking more American energy production on federal lands and offshore and personally lobbying against Keystone is the opposite of "all of the above," and the American people understand that."