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.”
This sudden turn is McCain showing that he can in fact be affected b reality. There is hope for the man after all. Now, about ANWR, nary a peep. But if McCain is smart, that’ll be the next move.
However that might be, this call for increased offshore drilling and exploring is a surefire winner with the American voter. He needs to hammer on this one, now.
Tags: abc news poll, aggressive response, american voter, announcement, ANWR, dependence, dependence on foreign oil, energy exploration, environmental activists, federal ban, federal moratorium, gasoline prices, moderate democrats, offshore drilling, offshore oil drilling, production, reality, republican presidential nominee, rising energy, Sen. John McCain, surefire winner, United States, voter anger, washington post, washngton post
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