Posted on 06/16/2008 12:39:23 PM PDT by Aria
RLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Sen. John McCain said Monday the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling should be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their own coasts. With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the Republican presidential contender said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."
McCain also suggested giving the states incentives, including a greater share of royalties paid by companies that drill for oil, as an incentive to permit exploration.
Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation.
He offered no other details for his proposal, which he is expected to describe more fully on Tuesday in an energy speech.
The current drilling moratorium is a perennial cause for controversy, pitting those who favor additional exploration on the one hand against environmentalists on the other.
The current ban on offshore drilling covers an estimated 80 percent of U.S. coastal waters. Given Democratic opposition in Congress to ending it, the Bush administration and congressional Republicans have been seeking the type of state option that McCain endorsed.
The GOP presidential candidate said a recent run-up in the price of oil was having an adverse effect on consumers.
"We've seen the impact of it in the form of food prices, in the form of gasoline, in the form of threats of inflation and indeed indications of inflation, and we must we must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil," he told reporters. McCain has sought to carve out something of a middle road on energy issues, parting company with many Republicans by opposing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, for example and calling for measures to reduce greenhouse gases.
The Senate last month rejected a GOP energy plan, 56-42, that included a provision similar to McCain's proposal. It would have allowed a state's governor to petition to have the federal moratorium lifted for waters off its coast. Republican senators argued there are some 14 billion barrels of recoverable oil available in waters now off limits. Also, the House has twice approved giving states the right to opt out of the federal ban, both when the GOP held the majority, but the proposal has never made it through the Senate.
McCain made his remarks before leaving the Washington area for a pair of fundraisers in Dallas.
Another fundraising event, originally set for the home of Clayton Williams in Midland, Texas was pulled from the schedule after a controversy erupted over remarks the 1990 Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate made several years ago about rape.
McCain sought to minimize the fallout, telling reporters that his aides had not known of the earlier comment when they scheduled the event
"We'll do it someplace else and I understand he's not attending. That's pretty much the sum of it all," he said.
He said he would hold another fundraising in the Midland area later this summer and Williams would not attend. Democrats have called on McCain to return more than $300,000 that Williams had raised for McCain from other individuals.
We can only hope so, and it's not one of those eee-vile incandescent bulbs. After all, Congress will want to pass a bill for the proper disposal of mercury-causing florescents...
/rambling
If McCain wants to win, he had better get on the right side of the energy and illegal immigration issues.
Let us hope that the bottom falls out of the Florida tourist industry as the price of gasoline heads past $4. Seems the folks there (republican and democrat) need an economics lesson.
The idiots in California are hopeless.
Let us hope that the bottom falls out of the Florida tourist industry as the price of gasoline heads past $4. Seems the folks there (republican and democrat) need an economics lesson.
The idiots in California are hopeless.
Geee... ya think? Wow, that is a great idea.
Well, yes he does face challenges in logic. Still trying to connect the dots; cause and effect...
Quit dicking around ..... DRILL RIGHT NOW!!
This is not politics, it’s survival.
To hell with “state incentives”.....ANY state that fights drilling should be cut off at the knees. ANY politician that resists should be arrested on the spot...no more debate, just DRILL!
McCain has my vote, only because I hate Obama, but if he doesn’t get this one issue right....not much else is going to matter.
If McCain is going to dance around and play politics on this, we might as well let that black racist have it, get on with a Civil WAR and get this over with.
Does the American public actually need to march on DC and drag your as$es out of there??
Outstanding!!!!!!!!
I knew John would sooner or later go for drilling!!!!
And he even did it before the Rats did.
This is Hugh!!!
I called his campaign office (703-418-2008) and left a message saying the exact same thing. I guess we're going to have to get more specific and mention ANWR, too. We can do it.
Let's compliment him on his statements of today but tell him it's not enough. We also need to open ANWR.
Senator McCain's correct that the moratorium should be lifted.
If by "near" he means 3 miles, then yes, he is correct, the coastal states have historically been considered to have an interest out that far (and in the case of Florida, 3 leagues into the Gulf of Mexico; I seem to remember that Texas also has a similar exception); however, if he means any greater distance, then I am not sure that I agree that the states themselves have any direct interest. Certainly I don't think that Florida, for instance, should be able to ban offshore development 150 miles from its shores.
Any state that prohibits, delays, or obstructs offshore drilling in any way should have a $5.00 per gallon surcharge imposed on all oil consumption in that state.
No, I was just saying we are always ready for drilling. I guess I didn’t ‘plane myself properly. Our off shore rigs have the best fishing around and our deer love to graze by the land pipelines that have to be kept clear so the grass is always there for them. To my knowledge, we have never had an oil spill. I don’t understand the mentality of the tree huggers opposing the drilling. IMHO it is a win-win kinda thing.
John this is just going to help the evil, greedy, price- fixing oil companies, you know that.
“They are polar opposites, and John doesn’t get it.”
I’ve come to the conclusion that McCain really isn’t very intelligent.
I hope the Chinese have left us some of the oil they are already tapping. We need a campaign ad showing high gas prices, lines at the pump etc. and then flash to a Chinese oil rig drilling 50 miles off our coast in areas our Congress says are off limits to US drilling.
Doesn’t he want to keep the pristine coastal marine environments as pristine as the Grand Canyon?
It only took this guy about 28 years to figure this one out.
If a state says no to offshore drilling, then it should be at a price. Those who say yes should not be disadvantaged.
Those states who are energy independent(like Texas) should be able to add “access” costs to any gas or oil sent to the importer state. The access costs would recognize the environmental and other costs that are a valid part of the extraction and refining of hydrocarbons.
Frankly, I am getting tired of my state shouldering an unfair burden of the energy structure of this country. Example? Texas is the largest generator of wind power in the nation yet a wellknown but unmentioned NE state won’t even allow windmills to be built off its coast.
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