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Obama accepts offshore drilling

Congress exits after dust-up

By Sean Lengell (Contact) | Saturday, August 2, 2008

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama on Friday withdrew his opposition to additional offshore oil drilling, essentially embracing his rival's energy stance, which is credited in part with pumping up Sen. John McCain's poll numbers.

Mr. Obama also called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies to fund $1,000 emergency rebate checks for Americans besieged by high energy costs after Congress left town Friday for a five-week vacation without passing energy legislation.

The Illinois senator, while campaigning in Florida, said he would accept limited additional offshore oil drilling if that's what it takes to overcome gridlock and enact a comprehensive energy policy to foster fuel-efficient autos and develop alternate energy sources.

"My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Mr. Obama said in an interview with the Palm Beach Post.

"If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well-thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done."

But Mr. McCain highlighted Mr. Obama's past opposition to offshore drilling and said his opponent's new stance did not go far enough anyway.

"We need oil drilling and we need it now offshore. He has consistently opposed it. He has opposed nuclear power. He has opposed reprocessing. He has opposed storage," Mr. McCain told reporters.

The McCain campaign team also issued a statement in which spokesman Tucker Bounds said it was "clear that members of both parties are following John McCain's leadership toward an 'all of the above´ approach on energy that includes nuclear, alternative energy and offshore drilling."

"We hope Barack Obama will realize that his ongoing opposition to John McCain´s realistic energy solutions and additional offshore drilling is wrong," Mr. Bounds said.

Mr. McCain, who earlier had dropped his opposition to offshore drilling and still opposes drilling in new Alaskan lands, has frequently criticized Mr. Obama for his opposition to drilling as gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon. Polls indicate these attacks have helped Mr. McCain gain ground on Mr. Obama.