Drill if you want to

McCain emphasizes drilling and states rights in advance of big energy speech

Posted by Kate Sheppard at 12:43 PM on 16 Jun 2008

John McCain is slated to give a major policy address on energy tomorrow in Houston, Texas. In a press conference today, he tipped his hand about what that speech will include: He says he'll call for federal limits on oil and gas exploration to be lifted, in order to allow states that want to permit exploration within their boundaries to do so.

"I think that this, and perhaps providing additional incentives for states to permit exploration off their coasts, would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis," said McCain.

The candidate also said he will reemphasize his support for a "gas-tax holiday" in his speech tomorrow.

Oh, and he did mention renewable energy, too: "We must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases through the development of alternate energy sources." Watch it:

According to the National Review's coverage, later on at the press conference someone asked McCain about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and whether lifting drilling restrictions elsewhere is "a way of addressing conservative irritation" with his position on ANWR. He has, in the past, opposed drilling there.

McCain: "I believe ANWR is a pristine area ... but I also believe lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas is a very high priority."

For story: Drill if you want to
3 Comments | Post a Comment

Not so Myopic

At least McCain can recognize a semi bearing down on his position. This semi has the name "energy crisis" emblazoned in 3-foot high letters on the trailer.

Escrowe "Fool me once, blow your head off..."

by escrowe at 1:44 PM on 16 Jun 2008

State Rights

"In a press conference today, he tipped his hand about what that speech will include: He says he'll call for federal limits on oil and gas exploration to be lifted, in order to allow states that want to permit exploration within their boundaries to do so."

Are there Federal limits on drilling for oil on state-owned or private land, aside from laws protecting private property and the environment from pollution?

The oil under Federal land belongs to all U.S. citizens, so states alone really shouldn't be able to authorize exploration or drilling. I assume McCain -- a firm believer in property rights and capitalism -- is not advocating giving away property owned by tax-paying U.S. citizens!

Then there's that word "exploration". So, McCain wants to permit states to permit corporations (doesn't matter if they are American-owned, by the way) to look for oil. He's not actually saying "drill" for oil. Is this a slick way for McCain to say he's both against and for drilling... an audience that already favors McCain will hear what they want to. Brilliantly smarmy.

by wiscidea at 2:37 PM on 16 Jun 2008

Drilling will be a campaign issue.

I think we can see this already. I read yesterday that a recent poll now has 57% of Americans supporting drilling ANWR. Clearly McCain is going to use this to try to separate off independents. The Democrats need to be careful to not get beat by this issue. There could be some freebees (politically speaking) here, drilling off California, Florida, and the Northeast is not a federal, but a state issue. Therefore one can (cynically) propose removing federal restrictions without having to worry about the nonexistant impact of the proposal.

by bigTom at 7:14 PM on 16 Jun 2008

ADVERTISING POLICY

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