What do you think of McCain's flip-flop on offshore drilling?

Question

On May 29th when asked about offshore drilling, McCain said

"[W]ith those resources, which would take years to develop, you would only postpone or temporarily relieve our dependency on fossil fuels"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/mccains-offshore-drilling_n_107872.html?view=screen

Less than a month later, McCain flip-flopped completely:

“As a matter of fairness to the American people and a matter of duty for our government, we must deal with the here and now, and assure affordable fuel for America by increasing domestic production.”

McCain was right the first time - experts definitively state that lifting the moratorium on oil will not produce a drop of oil for 7-10 years. Furthermore, those new wells will not be producing enough oil to impact fuel prices for up to 20 years at which point prices may go down 3 cents.

http://greenupgrader.com/2415/mccains-energy-policy-leaves-america-hanging-ad/

So what do you make of this bizarre and rapid flip-flop?

Answer 1

drilling WOULD have an immediate effect on gas prices. Speculators are the cause of the oil prices rising. Once drilling starts the future of oil doesn't look as dire...speculators sell. Just imagine how much oil prices would fall if ANWAR drilling started and more refineries were opened in the US.

Answer 2

Hillary was a flip flopper on the war and you do not go on about her you only are against McCain because he is a republican.

Answer 3

Is what your trying to say in a round about way with lots of useless wording...McCain changed his mind? I wonder if that ever happen with the Dem's? It wouldn't really surprise me a great deal if they allow open drilling permits... Only after the elections of course. We have to allow for political flippancy.

Answer 4

Drill, Drill, Drill!  If the polar bears get in the way drill them too.

All they do is eat those cute little seals anyway.

Anyone who will get us out of the energy mess environmentalists caused has my support.

Drill, now, and drill often.

Answer 5

BOOLONIE what if there is an acidental spill what do you thinks going to happen to the animals they mught die thats not some thing i want to happen  it will make gas go down but still

Answer 6

You don't know the first thing about economics.  With any luck your next life will be in the Soviet Union to teach you once and for all that capitalism is not a bad thing.

Answer 7

I haven't been in favor of additional drilling here in the U.S. because of the time frame to get the oil in production, plus the main issue some people were saying is the problem is not supply, but refining capacity.  But global tensions caused by competition, political agendas, and the increasing costs of energy are demanding extraordinary measures, so I think we should re-examine the issues.  For example, one person here says that new supplies could be on line in six months; others claim that using new technologies does not have as much impact on the environment as in the past; more recently I heard that the Chinese are building offshore platforms near Cuba and tapping supplies that are in fields under U.S. territory.  As far as building additional refineries go, I don't see investing resources in technologies that are in their twilight years-it is kind of like starting to build buggy whip factories again.  Well...maybe not QUITE.  Haw.  But the point is that regardless of the impact AGW has on the environment, we HAVE to develop alternative energy sources-especially for transportation, asap.  Anyone who debates the use of fossil fuels by deriding alternative energy on the basis of disbelief in AGW is basically just derailing the process of solving other critical problems that most of us knew were coming for the last 40 years but didn't do anything about as long as we were kept comfortable with cheap energy and fuel.  As a temporary measure, if we can tap reserves quickly and without serious environmental consequences-and if it is indeed supply and not refining capacity that is the issue-I would be in favor of doing so to keep the economy from collapsing.  But no way would I want it to deter us from developing alternative energy, and I am concerned about that happening again just as it has in the past.

Anyway, I'd like to hear further discussion about drilling, if it isn't too tainted by extremists on either side of the issue.   As far as McCain goes, I look at his remarks as partly political expediency, partly a response to changing economic conditions, and perhaps partly a result of looking at the issues again with a 'fresh perspective.'  Overall, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Answer 8

I think he is an open minded person who can weigh the pros and cons of a situation and do what is best for this country.

Answer 9

The SHOCK, the HORROR.......  Whatever........

Quit acting like you are shocked that a politician rapidly changed his opinion.  Both Obama and McCain have been flip-flopping positions like actors in a p**n flick.

Answer 10

Politics, not science.

Got a great link which shows how little difference more drilling would make:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otherana...

And then there's this guy.  Perhaps some of the proponents of drilling could educate him about oil?

"This is one emergency we can't drill our way out of.".....

"Can't we just produce more oil?

World oil production peaked in 2005. Despite growing demand and an unprecedented increase in prices, oil production has fallen over the last three years. Oil is getting more expensive to produce, harder to find and there just isn't enough of it to keep up with demand.

The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone."

T. Boone Pickens

It's pretty funny that people don't know who he is.  They could Google his name.

Answer 11

McCain may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's much smarter than Obama, who doesn't even have a clue about the gas problem.  Obama wants to go back to the Carter era and use the failed policies that really messed up the economy and got us into the Iraq/Iran problem in the first place.

Why do liberals keep living in the past and reusing all the ideas that failed in the past?  Is it really a mental problem or are they just mean and hateful towards average Americans?

McCain at least is listening to the people.  80% of the country says to drill domestically NOW !!

I'm glad he's changed his mind.  We have billions of barrels of oil in the US to tap if the liberals would just let us.

Clinton blocked us from drilling 15 years ago.  If he'd have let us drill back then we'd be pulling in billions of barrels today and the price would be a lot lower.  Just announcing that we're going to compete with the rest of the world in oil drilling would drop the world price immediately.

Liberals like to say it won't make any immediate difference, but since they never see a time to help the situation, it never happens.  I'm amazed than anyone would vote for a democrat ever again now that we know how much they like the poor to suffer.

Oh, and we can't really use the "flip-flop" thing on either candidate.  Kerry owns that distinction.  When the truth surfaced about him, he was "swift-booted" right out of any contention, and we're all a lot better off for that.

Answer 12

DRILL!!!!!!

I've got some friends that are geologists for exxon.  They both tell me that from the time that they get onsite to do the site investigation to the time that oil is pumped out of the well (assuming its a productive site) is 6 months.  The 7-10 year estimate is totally made up, unless you're talking about the amount of time you spend on lawsuits before you ever touch the ground.  Thanks environmentalists!

Answer 13

Politicians are liars and opportunists.  and that's why we can't trust them when they try to push costly schemes on us that won't help anything--but will put of lot of money in their own pockets.

"That's apparently what Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) have in mind with their new legislation to install a "cap-and-trade" system for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

Their bill essentially was drafted by the eco-activist Pew Center on Global Climate Change and several multinational conglomerates, including British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell. It would establish mandatory emissions limits for carbon dioxide and set up an exorbitantly expensive Rube Goldberg apparatus that would allow companies to buy or sell permits to emit CO2.

It is the sort of plan Enron used to lobby for."

http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR1803.ht...

http://actionnetwork.org/sft/alert-descr...

http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA446.htm...

Answer 14

Unlike liberals, McCain learns from his mistakes. Funny how you ask this now that Obama has voted for Bush's wiretapping bill. I guess that makes him Barak Bushbama to you now...

Answer 15

I think it is what the majority of the American public wants, and as far as your statistics about how the extra production will affect commodity prices 7,10 or 20 years in the future, I would believe it about as much as you attempting to predict what AT&T's stock will be worth next year.

Answer 16

"McCain was right the first time - experts definitively state that lifting the moratorium on oil will not produce a drop of oil for 7-10 years. Furthermore, those new wells will not be producing enough oil to impact fuel prices for up to 20 years at which point prices may go down 3 cents."

Just the promise of drilling for more oil will drive prices down. Basic economics.

An argument against drilling in ANWAR was that it would take 10 years to get the oil into production--supposedly too long of a time. That was ten years ago.

Answer 17

he is a politician they always flip-flop.  Why don't you point out any of obamas flip-flops.  To react to his change in position it will get him more votes which is a good thing

Answer 18

Prices kept going up, maybe that's why he flip flopped.

I don't know - I'm not voting for him.    I'm voting Libertarian.    There was a time when I thought the VP picks could conceivably influence my vote but it's clear that both Obama and McCain view them as political choices not co-governors, thus the choices, respectively, of Richardson or Romney would not mean that either Obama or McCain was seriously moving in the right direction on economic issues.

Answer 19

I doubt oil will run out, even in the distant future. However, as to McCain's flip flopping, almost every politician changes his views to get more votes. It's not that surprising at all.

Answer 20

He wants to be elected.