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June 17, 2008
McCain seeks end to ban on offshore drilling
Rick Moran
Just drill, baby.
No, we probably won't be able to drill our way out of the oil supply crisis we are currently experiencing. It's too late for that since any drilling we undertake will mean a decade before the oil begins to flow in any meaningful amounts.
But it is absolutely ridiculous that we are not exploiting at least some of the resources we're sitting on. And one good place to start is allowing more offshore drilling.
States like California have determined on their own that companies should not be able to drill off their coast. John McCain, to his credit, according to the Washington Post, wants to change some of that:
Sen. John McCain called yesterday for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, offering an aggressive response to high gasoline prices and immediately drawing the ire of environmental groups that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has courted for months.
The move is aimed at easing voter anger over rising energy prices by freeing states to open vast stretches of the country's coastline to oil exploration. In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, nearly 80 percent said soaring prices at the pump are causing them financial hardship, the highest in surveys this decade.
"We must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil," McCain told reporters yesterday. In a speech today, he plans to add that "we have untapped oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States. But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. . . . It is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions." The fact that this is something of a reversal for McCain should come as no surprise. Circumstances have changed dramatically since he announced support for the ban on offshore drilling so it only logical and correct that he should change with them.
But not the Luddites in the environmental movement who see only wickedness in the idea of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. McCain probably had little chance of winning over a sizable number of them anyway so he has taken the politically attractive tack of advocating for the drill bit.
Some analysts believe advocating drilling offshore and in places like ANWR is a winning issue for the Republicans. Depending on how bad the crunch is in November, they may be right.
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