McCain: Let's Drill

Can I say it? Can I say it? It's about time!

Senator 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 Washington Post reports.

Yesterday, McCain released a statement saying: "Tomorrow, I'll call for lifting the federal moratorium for states that choose to permit exploration. I think that this, and perhaps providing additional incentives for states to permit exploration off their coasts, would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis. We've seen the impact of it in the form of food prices, the form of gasoline, and the form of threats of inflation, and indeed indications of inflation. We must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases through the development of alternative energy sources. And, as I said, exploration is a step toward the longer term goal. And, I will repeat my advocacy of a gas tax holiday, which is impacting low-income Americans on a fixed income who are driving automobiles that consume gasoline at a greater rate, and they're driving further, and I think that they deserve a break."

This is common sense. I encourage you all to go to the http://www.americansolutions.com/ website and sign the petition to tell Congress: "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less." Senator McCain got the message and I believe it is a winning message. It's common sense.

Almost two years ago, The James Madison Institute (where I work) has been advocating to open up drilling in Florida's Gulf coast in this Backgrounder article (PDF). A decade ago, Congressional Republicans advocated drilling in Alaska. President Clinton vetoed that. If either of these options would have been explored then, we wouldn't be having the energy crisis we're facing today. Environmental extremists have determined our energy future and they want to continue doing so. It's time we said, "Enough is enough."

I applaud John McCain for this excellent decision to wage a campaign that will directly contrast the Leftist policies of Barack Obama and the Democrat Party.