Published: June 18, 2008
WASHINGTON — President Bush, reversing a
longstanding position, will call on Congress on Wednesday to end a
federal ban on offshore oil drilling, according to White House
officials who say Mr. Bush now wants to work with states to determine
where drilling should occur.
The move underscores how $4-a-gallon gas has become a major issue in
the 2008 presidential campaign, and it comes as a growing number of
Republicans are lining up in opposition to the federal ban.
The party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Senator John McCain
of Arizona, used a speech in Houston on Tuesday to say he now favors
offshore drilling, an announcement that infuriated environmentalists
who have long viewed him as an ally. Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, a Republican, immediately joined Mr. McCain, saying he, too, now wants an end to the ban.
Even
before the disclosure of Mr. Bush’s decision, the drilling issue caused
a heated back-and-forth on the campaign trail on Tuesday, as Mr. McCain
sought to straddle the divide between environmentalists and the energy
industry, while facing accusations from his Democratic opponent,
Senator Barack Obama, that he had flip-flopped and capitulated to the oil industry.
In Washington, the White House press secretary, Dana Perino,
said Mr. Bush would urge Congress to “pass legislation lifting the
Congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil
drilling,” adding, “The president believes Congress shouldn’t waste any
more time.”
Mr. Bush has long advocated opening up the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling, and in 2006 signed into
law a bill that expanded exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. But the
topic of coastal drilling has been an extremely sensitive one in the
Bush family; Mr. Bush’s father, the first President Bush, signed an
executive order in 1990 banning coastal oil exploration, and Mr. Bush’s
brother Jeb was an outspoken opponent of offshore drilling when he was
governor of Florida.
Now, though, President Bush is considering
repealing his father’s order. Although Ms. Perino said Mr. Bush “is not
taking any executive action” on Wednesday, two people outside the White
House said such a move was under serious consideration, and a senior
White House official did not dispute their account.
“This is a
strong point of discussion inside the White House,” said Representative
John E. Peterson, a Pennsylvania Republican who has been asking Mr.
Bush for years to rescind his father’s action. Mr. Peterson is also
leading an effort in Congress to repeal its ban.
With oil selling
for more than $130 a barrel and no end in sight to high gasoline
prices, Mr. Bush, a former oilman from Texas who came into office
vowing to address an impending energy shortage, does not want to end
his presidency in the midst of an energy crisis.
No one knows
for certain how much oil is in the moratorium area, but the federal
Energy Information Administration estimates that roughly 75 billion
barrels of oil in the United States are off-limits for development, and
that 21 percent of this oil — or 16 billion barrels — is covered by the
offshore moratorium.
Mr. Bush’s new stance on offshore drilling
will inject him squarely into the presidential campaign, by putting the
full weight of the White House behind Mr. McCain at a time when he is
trying to demonstrate presidential stature. But it will also expose Mr.
McCain to accusations from Democrats that a McCain presidency would be
akin to a Bush third term.
At the same time, the move will put
the onus on Democrats, many of whom have long been staunchly opposed to
offshore drilling. And it is likely to exacerbate the 30-year-old
standoff in Washington over whether domestic drilling or conservation
is the way to end American dependence on foreign oil. . .
By far the worse move ever could be to continue drilling for that black goo. Maybe a clean and fresh look at photovoltaic’s is in order. . .
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. I walk and ride more often.
