Bush adds his voice to the debate on domestic oil drilling

President Bush has called on Congress to end a 27-year ban on drilling for oil in US coastal waters, to help lower gas prices.

This comes only days after Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Florida Governor Charlie Crist reversed their long held positions to advocate lifting a 27 year old ban on offshore drilling.

It is also an indication of how gas prices could be a major factor in the November election.

Republican strategists appear to have taken the decision that McCain reverse on drilling could be a popular move with voters, even if he is accused of flip-flopping and pandering to oil interests.

I don't know how this will play out. McCain could lose if oil prices settle back down. And Obama could make good use of this in his campaign ads. On the other hand Republicans may have found a clever way to distract voters from Iraq and McCain record of standing with Bush.

But most energy experts - and some Republicans - are unlikely to buy  McCain's thinking. As Senator Mel Martinez told me two years ago, "Drilling is never going to be a very complete solution."

In a news conference at the White House, Bush told Congress there was "no excuse for delay" in lifting the ban. "Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response," he said.

Since 1981, a congressional moratorium has prohibited oil and gas drilling along the east and west coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The ban was largely designed to protect tourism and the risk of oil spills washing onto beaches.

The US Interior Department estimates there are 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas sitting offshore in US waters. But analysts point out developing these resources would not provide no immediate relief for consumers. The reserves would barely cover two years of US demand for oil.

Bush also today renewed his call for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to be opened up to drilling. McCain still opposes opening up Alaska. He says his change of opinion about offshore drilling stems from improved technology to protect against spillage, as well as consumer concern over high gas prices.

"As for offshore drilling, it's safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston," he said.

Senator Obama dismissed McCain's call as "political posturing" that would do nothing to reduce gas prices.

"His decision to completely change his position and tell a group of Houston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today was the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades," Obama said.

Click here to read a story by our Washington bureau about the Republican move over oil drilling.

- David Adams

Comments

[Fred]

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[Frank]

Bush is an idiot. He has no voice that is taken seriously anywhere in the world. He needs to curl into a fetal position in the war room of the White House and wait for Barack to come knocking....