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McCain: Drilling Benefits “Psychological”; Obama Pounces

Posted Jun 24, 2008 by William March

Updated Jun 24, 2008 at 12:37 PM

Barack Obama has pounced on what appears to be an admission by John McCain that the immediate benefits of increased coastal oil drilling would be mainly “psychological,l” and wouldn’t lead to lower gas prices soon.

McCain’s comments came in a town hall meeting in Fresno, according to an NBC News report.

“I don’t see an immediate relief, but I do see that exploitation of existing reserves that may exist—and in view of many experts that do exist off our coasts—is also a way that we need to provide relief. Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial,” McCain said.

While Republicans and backers of McCain, including Gov. Charlie Crist, have swung around to favor increased coastal oil drilling because of high gas prices, Democrats and some environmentalists counter that it would be years, if at all, before lower gas prices resulted from making increased areas of the eastern Gulf of Mexico open to drilling.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and others cite a U.S. Department of Energy report that no price effect from increased offshore drilling nationwide would take resuilt before 2030.