In New TV Ad, Perry Says U.S. Must “Kick Our Foreign Oil Habit”

In his sixth television ad of the campaign, Rick Perry opines on President Obama’s inability to curb the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and positions himself as the alternative to expand American oil production.

“It’s almost 2012 and we’re still addicted to foreign oil,” Perry says in the ad. “President Obama and Washington? All talk, no action.”

The 30-second television ad, called “Energy Jobs,” cites calls by President Obama and President Jimmy Carter to end the country’s dependence on oil from foreign countries. Perry touts his energy plan, which he released in late September, to expand exploration in oil and gas fields, eliminate burdensome regulations on the energy industry, and create over one million new jobs.

With a new twist on the typical verbal approval by the candidate required at the end of each television advertisement, Perry says he approved the message “because it’s high time we kick our foreign oil habit.”

“Our county’s reliance on unstable, foreign nations as energy sources is dangerous,” Ray Sullivan, Perry campaign communications director, said in a statement. “Gov. Perry’s top priority for revitalizing domestic energy is becoming energy independent. This new ad underscores his commitment to utilizing all of our country’s national energy sources and creating American jobs.”

The ad will begin airing statewide in Iowa Thursday.