GOP Leaves Alaska Drilling Off Platform

Green voters left with one choice after McCain ceases being a maverick

(NEWSER) - John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin completes his transformation from the most green-leaning GOP candidate for years into just another mouthpiece for Big Oil, Thomas L. Friedman writes in the New York Times. Palin backs drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and she does not believe humans play any role in climate change, Friedman notes. More»

Promises get bigger, and policy gets dumber

(NEWSER) - It might as well be a mathematical formula: High gas prices + oncoming election = stupid policy, writes Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post. John McCain, once the possessor of a sensible energy plan, now screeches incessantly about outer-continental shelf drilling, as though this would instantly solve the energy crisis. Barack Obama, who once earned plaudits for resisting McCain and Hillary Clinton's gimmicky gas tax holiday, now wants to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an even costlier gimmick. More»

Oilman's environmental turn enrages GOP, writes columnist

(NEWSER) - The reinvention of oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens as an environmentalist represents a huge political about-face, writes Timothy Egan in the New York Times. Four years ago, Pickens bankrolled the Swift Boat campaign that derailed John Kerry's presidential bid. Now Pickens, "looking a bit like the John Huston character from Chinatown," is attacking the efficacy of new drilling just when John McCain is pressing for it. More»

Former VP's alliance issues statement critical of plan

(NEWSER) - President Obama's decision to allow offshore drilling in the Atlantic has resulted in his first public disagreement with Al Gore. The former vice president's environmental group issued a statement critical of the policy, asserting that we "cannot simply drill our way to energy security." In the past, Gore and his group have either been enthusiastic boosters of Obama policies or have remained silent , notes the Hill . More»

Some doubt that the legislative strategy will pay off

(NEWSER) - President Obama's plan for more offshore drilling has critics on the left and right quick to weigh in:

• Rick Klein, the Note : "It has the looks of a classic Obama first step that leaves no one satisfied—and irks some allies."
• Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress : "I don’t understand this at all. Increased coastal drilling would be a small price to pay in exchange for actual congressional votes for an overall energy package. But any price is too high a price to pay in exchange for nothing at all. This isn’t the greatest environmental crime in human history, but it sure does seem like poor legislative strategy."