Speaking from the Rose Garden on Thursday, President Obama called for an end to federal subsidies for the petroleum industry, saying that members of Congress can “stand with big oil companies, or they can stand with the American people.”

Shortly after he made those comments, the Senate voted down a Democratic proposal that would have ended $24 billion in tax cuts for the five largest oil companies and authorize new tax credits for alternative energy resources.

Republicans have been bashing Obama’s energy strategy all week, and they were boosted on Thursday by an ad airing in Florida and other battleground states that was paid for by the American Energy Alliance.