by Damozel | Here's John McCain's energy policy:
Via D-Day: My friends, we have to drill off shore. We have to do it. It's out there and we can do it. And we can do that. The oil executives say within a couple of years we could be seeing results from it. So why not do it?
Oh, right. Why not, eh? If the oil executives think it would be beneficial, why not?
KeninNY at Down With Tyranny at first doubts that these energy experts would ever say such a thing...
It's unlikely that even the most cynical or corrupt oil executive would dare say such absolute, unmitigated nonsense, even if he/she isn't under oath. (DWT)
But considers another possible interpretation....
Now wait. In fairness, when the oil executives said "we could see the benefit of offshore drilling in just a couple years," they were telling the truth. It was just the "we" wasn't the American people -- it was the oil executives. (DWT)
The fact is, we won't see benefits from offshore drilling for years, as this article in The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
[O]ffshore oil exploration is slow and costly.
If the federal government opened California's coast to drilling tomorrow, the first exploratory wells probably wouldn't be drilled for at least six years, Medlock said. Bringing newly discovered oil fields into full production would take longer.
That means any new oil wouldn't arrive on the market until midway through the next decade, at the earliest. The process is slow enough that the Energy Information Administration, the statistics branch of the U.S. Department of Energy, estimated last year that opening the coasts to offshore drilling would have no significant impact on oil prices before 2030.
"It's a crock to say that's any kind of near-term solution for the pain drivers are feeling at the pump," said Bill Corcoran, senior regional representative for the Sierra Club....
Schwarzeneggar is opposed to offshore drilling:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remains opposed to expanded offshore drilling, saying the country should focus instead on weaning itself off oil. The state government does not have direct control over federal waters off its coast, but it could place obstacles in the way of anyone looking for oil there. (SFC)
Meanwhile, Think Progress reports on testimony by Texas billionaire Pickens before Joe Lieberman's enate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee which seems to suggest a very different conclusion from McCain's with respect to drilling off the East and West coasts:
I think you’re going to get a rude awakening as to the value of the East and West coasts when it’s opened up and when it’s put up for sale. When it’s put up for sale, I think you’ll be surprised at the price you get for the tracts.
TP notes:
Pickens was politely relating to Domenici a cold hard fact — the offshore oil reserves of the United States lie predominantly in areas already open to drilling...As the Energy Information Administration has found, lifting the offshore drilling moratorium would have an “insignificant” impact on prices for at least twenty years..
You know what else is a crock? McCain's ad blaming Obama's opposition to lifting the ban for high prices at the pumps. The problem is, that some morons will believe it.
Re: McCain's position[s] Silent Patriot at Crooks and Liars notes:
[T]he DNC notes that McCain’s position on off-shore drilling, beyond the initial flip-flop, keeps evolving:
McCain was in New Hampshire this afternoon where he unveiled the latest excuse for coastal drilling. Oil executives tell McCain that “within a couple of years we could be seeing results from it.” here’s no doubt that oil companies will profit handsomely from McCain’s coastal drilling plan. It’s helpful that McCain would relay that to an audience of voters.
First position: When he first announced his decision to abandon his longstanding opposition to offshore drilling, McCain said it would be helpful in the short term.
Second position: Days later, McCain and his top economic advisor admitted it would have no immediate effect, but would have a “psychological” impact.
Third position: Later he reversed himself once again, say drilling is part of his short term solution to energy prices.
The latest: During today’s town hall meeting in New Hampshire, McCain says “oil executives” told him we “could see results” from offshore drilling “within a couple of years.”
Considering that he can’t even keep his facts straight, is it any surprise that his new ad offensive has been universally panned as “false,” “misleading,” and “wrong?”
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