With oil prices hitting voters, Obama budges on offshore drilling
With soaring fuel prices digging holes in the wallets of American voters, White House hopeful Barack Obama said Saturday that he might be willing to support offshore oil drilling in the country.
In a shift that quickly brought accusations of inconsistency from Republicans, Obama said he would possibly back a new energy bill in the US Senate that includes a measure to overturn a ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama told reporters in Florida that the bill, proposed by a group of Republican and Democratic senators on Friday, "has some of the very aggressive elements that I've outlined in my plan to move us in the direction of genuine energy independence."
"If we have a plan on the table that I think meets the goals that America has to set, and there are some things in there that I don't like ... I would consider it because that's the nature of how we govern in a democracy."
"I remain skeptical of some of the drilling provisions, but I will give them (the bill's drafters) credit that the way they crafted the drilling provisions are about as careful and responsible as you might expect for a drilling agenda," he said.
He applauded a goal declared in the bill that within 20 years, 85 percent of the cars on US roads will not be powered by oil or gas-based fuels.
"That I think is the kind of bold step that we need, the fact that they are willing to put in seven billion dollars to help the auto industry retool, so that those new energy-efficient cars are made in America.
"What I don't want to do is ... to be the enemy of the good here," he said.
Obama and his party have come under attack from the White House and Republican presidential contender John McCain for blocking moves to free up thousands of miles (kilometers) of US coastline for drilling for oil, which the Republicans say would help ease high fuel prices, a major worry for voters.
"To reduce pressure on prices, we need to increase the supply of oil, especially oil produced here at home," President George W. Bush said in his weekly radio address.
"If Congress does not act, they will owe families across America an explanation for why they're ignoring their concerns," he warned.
"Senator Obama says he wants energy independence, but he doesn't support anything that serves that goal," McCain said in his own radio address Saturday.
"He is opposed to new domestic drilling, opposed to nuclear power, and wants to add taxes to coal producers. He has said the high cost of gasoline doesn't bother him, only that it rose too quickly."
Meanwhile Obama and McCain's campaign backed off of accusations of racism and instead traded barbs over whose approach to the November 4 presidential election is more cynical.
Asked Saturday whether he saw McCain's campaign as playing up racial issues -- as Obama seeks to become the country's first African-American president -- Obama said he did not think so.
"I think they're cynical. And I think they want to distract people from talking about the real issues."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds shot back: "The only 'cynical' candidate in this election is Barack Obama, who has opposed every element of John McCain's comprehensive energy plan that includes additional oil drilling, affordable nuclear energy and gas tax relief for hardworking families."
AFP
