McCain's New Energy Ad Makes Sense

The Courier Journal's James Bruggers today pooh poohs Senator John McCain's new advertisement:

John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, put out a new ad on the environment, noting his past differences with George Bush on climate change. Not mentioned is his new course on off-shore drilling -- McCain now supports it:

"We have enormous energy reserves of our own," he said, "and we are gaining the means to use these resources in cleaner, more responsible way," he's quoted as saying in this McClatchy News Service story. The story also goes on to note that "estimated recoverable reserves off U.S. coasts in areas now banned from production probably hold only about 19 billion barrels, and:
The world consumes about 86 million barrels a day. The U.S. share of that is about 20.6 million barrels, 60 percent of them from foreign sources. One thousand million barrels equals 1 billion, so if there are 19 billion barrels in the areas McCain would open to drilling, that's enough to provide about 920 days, or about 2.5 years, of current U.S. consumption.

Since when has banning offshore drilling been a positive for "global warming"? Bruggers' implicit logic mimics Senator Barack Obama's reasoning that gasoline shortages -- and resultant higher prices at the pump -- are a good thing because they deter economic activity that "harms" the environment. It harms American taxpayers' pocketbooks far more.

And since when has tapping into a new source of domestic energy supply that will meet U.S. consumption for 2 1/2 years been such a bad thing? It would likely be a longer time than that, but even if it were not, that would still be a significant period not to be at the mercy of the OPEC cartel and the likes of autocrats like Hugo Chavez -- and a great opportunity to develop alternative domestic energy sources like nuclear and coal power and to implement responsible conservation measures.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.