Obama blasts McCain over offshore drilling

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (MCT) - Betting that Floridians don't want oil rigs off their coast, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama whacked at Republican John McCain Friday, saying that McCain's proposal to lift a ban on offshore drilling would do nothing to ease the crushing price of gas.

With the St. Johns River as a backdrop, Obama said McCain was simply trying to score political points when he dropped his previous support for the 27-year-old moratorium.

"Offshore drilling would not lower gas prices today, it would not lower prices tomorrow, it would not lower gas prices this year, it would not lower gas prices five years from now," said Obama. "In fact President Bush's own energy department says we would not see a drop of (offshore) oil ... until 2017."

Obama said he understands that drivers are suffering because of $4-a-gallon gasoline and that he would consider additional offshore drilling if "there was any evidence" it would reduce prices.

"But it won't," he said. "And John McCain knows that."

The Illinois senator said, instead, the U.S. should spend $150 billion over the next decade to develop new, clean sources of energy and promote plug-in hybrid cars. In the short term, he said, he would push to give middle-class taxpayers a $1,000 tax cut to help ease the sting of gasoline prices.

The McCain campaign responded with a statement saying that Obama "is now on record opposing every single initiative that might help Americans with their current pain at the pump." McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said voters "cannot afford Barack Obama's do-nothing, out of touch energy policy."

Fuel prices have elbowed their way to the front of the political line in the past week.

McCain has sought to gain ground by pushing for more offshore drilling. But in Florida, that's a dicey political move.

Historically, voters and elected leaders of both parties have zealously guarded the state's coastline, fearing that offshore drilling might pose a threat to the beaches that draw tens of millions of visitors every year. Generally, experts view the risk of a significant oil spill or leak as remote, but that's not lessened opposition to drilling.

McCain and many Republicans - including President Bush - now sense that prices have spiked so high that residents may be willing to reconsider. This week, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist reversed his opposition to new drilling; a majority of the state's Republican congressional delegation - and even former Gov. Jeb Bush - also support oil rigs if they're far enough offshore to be over the horizon.

The Obama team moved quickly to give their candidate a forum to blast that idea. With Obama scheduled to attend a fundraiser here, they hastily arranged a downtown press conference in a small park along the river. With no time to prepare for a large crowd, they kept the location secret, telling reporters where to go only three hours before the 4:30 p.m. event.

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While Obama was blasting McCain on drilling, McCain's campaign was trying to squeeze mileage out of the Democrat's announcement that he'd forgo public campaign financing for his presidential bid.

Accepting public money - as Obama earlier suggested he would - would limit him to spending $84.1 million. But his campaign has re-written the rules of fundraising. On Friday, his campaign reported he had raised $22 million in May alone and had $43 million in cash on hand.

McCain's campaign portrayed Obama's decision as a "flip-flop" - the same term Obama's camp used to describe McCain's shift on offshore drilling. Until recently, McCain supported the ban on additional coastal drilling.

At Friday evening's fundraiser - attended by about 600 people who paid $500-a-head - Obama continued his campaign to win over disappointed supporters of Hillary Clinton. He praised the New York senator, saying politically, they agree on "99 percent of the issues."

"We had to work to find something to disagree on (during their primary contest)," he said. "The differences we have pale in comparison with the differences we have with George W. Bush and John McCain - and that's what's at stake in November, making sure we don't have third George Bush term under the guise of John McCain."

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© 2008, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).