Earth Equity News

Republicans 'Oil Up' Their 2008 Hopes. By Michael D. Shear and Paul Kane, WashPost, July 27, 2008. "Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has done something that few Republicans thought possible just a few months ago: given them hope. United behind a renewed push for offshore oil drilling, Republican members of Congress and... Sen. John McCain, think they have found their best [campaign] issue... The issue, which polls suggest Americans favor by healthy margins, lets Republicans demonstrate their plans to address the anger over high gas prices as well as the broader economic distress that many voters feel... [They] have already begun casting their rivals as unconcerned about gas prices and unwilling to wean the country from foreign oil... [though] the risks for Republicans became clear this week... when a McCain visit to an offshore oil rig was quickly scuttled in the face of Hurricane Dolly and a massive fuel oil spill in the Mississippi River near New Orleans. McCain's support for offshore drilling also threatens to unite environmentalists against him, after he spent months portraying himself as a friend of the environment... 'Apparently, hundreds of thousands of gallons of spilled oil, dead fish and oil-covered birds aren't ideal conditions for peddling a misguided plan for more offshore drilling,' said Cathy Duvall... of the Sierra Club. 'Unfortunately, the risk for such spills -- and far worse -- would only increase if John McCain and George Bush get their way and allow Big Oil to begin the 'exploitation' of our coasts'... Democrats point out that voter support for drilling plummets when surveys note that drilling would not produce new, usable gas for years and would not immediately affect gas prices at the pump."