McCain Calls for More Offshore Drilling: What Else Would He Say in Houston?
When in Rome, right?
Despite the fact that he supported a moratorium on offshore drilling during his previous run for the White House and he has opposed drilling in Florida, North Carolina, Oregon and elsewhere, McCain will call for the elimination of that moratorium today in Houston.
McCain’s prepared remarks will be be well-received in Houston, arguably the oil capital of America. My point is this: When McCain is in Portland, Oregon he speaks at a Vestas Wind Energy facility and touts the benefits of renewable energy (but offers little policy support to back it up); when McCain is in Houston he calls for a gas tax holiday and lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling.
In short, the part of me that hears Sen. McCain speak about addressing climate change and developing “alternate energy sources” doesn’t jive with the part of me that reads his voting record on this stuff. And apparently, I’m not the only one.
“The easiest point to make about John McCain’s current support for offshore drilling is that it is a flip-flop. When McCain ran for president in 1999, he supported the current moratorium on offshore drilling, slated to last until 2012.” (Mother Jones)
“McCain’s reversal on off-shore drilling is a blatant pitch for donations at today’s Houston fundraising events.” (David Donnely of Campaign Money Watch)
“Although McCain says that he supports renewable energy, he has set so specific targets. John McCain’s website makes no mention of solar, wind, renewable energy, or even public transportation under the section on climate change and has no section on energy.” (Sarah Lozanova of Red, Green, & Blue)
Considering the mission of this blog, I would be remiss to not include a snippet from a conservative pundit and backer of the McCain plan (especially considering how much time I spent trying to find one!):
“In fact, the economic slowdown, including the spike in gasoline prices, gives Republicans chance to attack Democrats as elitists, as “let-them-drive-bicycles”-type snobs; as polar-bear loving Greens who would rather worry about glaciers on the North Pole than about jobs for Middle Americans in North Carolina or North Dakota.” (James Pinkerton of The Fox Forum)
Related Posts:
“Help Set the Environmental Agenda for the 44th President”
“Obama Ad Rejects Gas-Tax Break”
“McCain and Obama Differ on Energy”
“McCain’s Plan to Combat Climate Change”
1. cmakin via flickr under a Creative Commons license
2. John McCain for President Website
we want our cake and to eat it too! We want lower gas prices but don’t drill in our back yard. Take it from the gulf coast but don’t give them the funds from royalties or levees or infrastructure. We want but don’t want to give.
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[...] but the oil and gas lobby when they distract Americans with their focus on short term fixes (e.g., off-shore oil drilling, oil shale development, etc.), and allow us to forget about the underlying problem. As [...]