Drill, drill, drill and the changing mind of John McCain

We written a lot recently about the cries of the oil companies and Republicans in their pockets who insist they must be given the right to drill in our coastal waters, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and anywhere else they think there might be oil.

The Republicans in convention have reiterated those cries, while at the same time chastising the Democrats for not falling in line with their mantra of "drill, drill, drill."

President Bush, ever the opportunist, spoke to reporters the other day about Hurricane Gustav. Well, that was what he was supposed to do, but he soon turned to his real agenda:

"One thing is for certain: When Congress comes back, they've got to understand that we need more domestic energy, not less; that -- and one place to find it is offshore America, lands that have been taken off the books, so to speak, by congressional law. And now they need to give us a chance to find more oil and gas here at home..."


It's all bullshit! Jim Hightower, in his The Hightower Lowdown, explains in detail why the Republican cry for more drilling is nothing more than a scam to line the pockets of the oil industry with even bigger profits. More drilling will not bring prices down in the foreseeable future, nor will it make us less dependent on foreign oil!

"We have only 2.2% of the globe's known reserves, yet we consume 25% of the world's oil, sucking up to 7.5 billion barrels a year. If we extracted all of the oil out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska, that would be 10.4 billion barrels--just a year-and-a-half supply. Likewise, place a wall of drilling platforms offshore off every beach on our seacoasts, suck up all the oil that exists there--and we'd have enough for only another two years.

"That's it. As reported this year by Bush's own Energy Information Administration (EIA), this amount of crude--even if it began flowing tomorrow--would have an 'insignificant' effect on pump prices."

But there's more. "...once the oil giants start pumping oil from America's publicly owned land and water, this liquid gold is not likely to stay in the U.S. market to help hard-hit consumers here. Exxon et al. are global behemoths that sell on the open market to the highest bidder. They are not public-spirited institutions. They are bottom-line profiteers, with no loyalty whatsoever to the good ol' US of A. ... The big new oil buyers on the world block are China and India, and the Exxons would very likely sell a good part of our oil to them."

Mr. Hightower has much more to say. Please read the entire article here.


Now, on to John McCain, this also credited to Jim Hightower. On June 13, 2008, Senator McCain said,

"I am very angry, frankly, at the oil companies, not only because of the obscene profits they've made, but at their failure to invest in alternate energy to help us eliminate our dependence on foreign oil."

Today, September 4, 2008, McCain is also chanting the "drill, drill, drill" mantra. What happened?

Three days after expressing his anger at the oil companies, on June 16, Mr. McCain "gave another talk in which he abruptly reversed his long-held opposition to offshore drilling. Then, that very same day, he boarded his 'Straight Talk Express' airplane and flew off to Texas for -- guess what? -- a series of fundraisers with oil executives. On June 17, for example, he snuggled with energy honchos at a closed-door luncheon at the San Antonio Country Club--and walked out with a love offering of $1.3 million for his presidential campaign.

"A McCain spokesman said huffily that it is 'completely absurd' for anyone to suggest that the candidate's switch in position had anything to do with oil money. 'McCain takes positions because he thinks it's the right thing to do for America,' the spokesman insisted."

Right.

Furthermore, McCain is a POW.