Ah, that John McCain. He’s such an environmentalist. I mean, only someone committed to protecting the environment, to safeguarding our oceans and beaches, would support an end to a federal ban on oil drilling off the coast, right?
In fact, a straight-talking, maverick Republican would be willing to buck his party, even the president, to take such a stand, right?
It couldn’t be that McCain has engaged
in an obvious attempt to pander to voters’ disgust with high gas prices as well as to grease his way with the more conservative Republican base that believes any oil well is a good oil well
as The Star-Ledger points out.
McCain and Bush tout drilling as a cure for high gas prices and dependence on foreign oil. And if it actually were, perhaps even ocean-loving Jerseyans could be seduced into allowing oil rigs offshore. But drilling offers neither short-term nor long-term relief.
But then, this is not about oil prices or the environment. As with his dopey gas-tax holiday idea, this is about votes. The straight-talking McCain and his campaign apparently believe that voters will ignore these facts, as outlined by the Ledger.
End the drilling ban today and it would take at least 10 years for oil to begin flowing. There would be zero effect on gasoline pump prices today and for years in the future.
Moreover, when the oil did begin flowing, there would not be enough of it to meet America’s needs. Federal estimates are that off-coast oil deposits total about 16 billion barrels — an amount equal to only about two years’ worth of estimated national consumption in 2018.
Of course, voters saw through his gas-tax holiday and are likely to see this policy announcement for the empty the pandering it is.
(Check out Jimmy Marulies’ editorial cartoon in The Record today.)
Hank Kalet 