Hard-pressed Americans are understandably concerned about rising gasoline prices. Republicans predictably are trying to use that anxiety to promote their drill-anywhere-and-everywhere agenda. At his press conference on Friday, President Obama wisely chose not to pander to the appetite for quick or destructive fixes.

He resisted calls to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying he would do so only when oil supplies were genuinely threatened. He delivered instead a measured tutorial on this country’s need to make itself less dependent on foreign oil, while reminding Americans that a nation that consumes one-quarter of the world’s oil while owning 2 percent of its reserves cannot drill its way to energy independence.

This is what leaders do  seize a moment when something like a spike in prices at the pump has grabbed public attention and use it to instruct on larger issues, in this case the need for a saner energy policy and a cleaner energy future. Mr. Obama is good at that.

But there is another thing that leaders do, and that is to push and pull and knock heads and do whatever else is required to make sure those goals are achieved. And on this score, Mr. Obama often falls short, especially on important energy issues.