John McCain hopes to drill home oil, energy plans
McCain continues to promote lifting a ban on offshore drilling in a speech today. Obama's campaign calls the move a reversal of McCain's position during his first presidential bid.
With voters increasingly nervous about sharply rising gasoline prices, Sen. John McCain today continued to focus on energy issues and called for an end to the federal ban on offshore drilling as part of his plan to limit dependence on foreign oil.
McCain, the expected Republican presidential nominee, is scheduled to explain his energy plan in detail during a speech in Houston. He will also attend several fundraising events in Texas.
"We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States," McCain will tell Texans, according to excerpts released by his campaign. "But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. And I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use."
The campaign of presumptive Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, lost little time in condemning McCain's plans. The Obama campaign sounded its frequent theme that McCain was engaged in politics as usual.
"John McCain's support of the moratorium on offshore drilling during his first presidential campaign was certainly laudable, but his decision to completely change his position and tell a group of Houston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today was the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades," the Obama campaign said.
Obama is in Michigan today where he will campaign for what he has called his opportunity tax credit plan, designed to make college more affordable to more people. The plan would allow a $4,000 tax credit, but students would be required to do 100 hours a year of community service.
Energy is expected to remain an issue throughout the campaign. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that nearly 4 out of 5 people say that rising gasoline prices have had a effect on their lives.
"People are hurting -- small farmers, truckers, and taxi drivers unable to cover their costs; small business owners struggling to meet payroll; the cost of living rising; and the value of paychecks falling," McCain says.
The problem is that the United States needs to again control its energy future and be less reliant on foreign oil, McCain says.
Conservation "is no longer just a moral luxury or a personal virtue. Conservation serves a critical national goal," says McCain, who also will call for shifting the economy to other energy sources including "wind, solar, biofuels and other sources yet to be invented."
