McCain Repeats Opposition To Drilling In ANWR

Republican presumptive Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has made it clear: although he has called for renewed offshore drilling as a way to help get America out of the energy crunch and has shifted his position on that — he is not dropping his opposition to drilling in ANWR:

Senator John McCain reiterated his opposition to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, a day after his statement that he would be willing to “go back and look at it again” sparked speculation among both opponents and proponents of drilling that he might change his mind.

“My position has not changed,’’ Mr. McCain said here on his campaign bus.

“People have said to me, ‘I’m going to bring you new information about ANWR, how environmentally we can make it safe,’” he said. “I’ll be glad to accept new information but my position has not changed.’’

Mr. McCain did change his position this week by proposing lifting the moratorium on off-shore drilling – in which he was quickly seconded by President Bush – but he said his position on drilling the the wildlife refuge was unchanged.

[UPDATE: It turns out ANWR drilling would take about a decade to kick in and lower gas prices two cents per gallon....]

It’s actually a very smart position for McCain, going into the general election. It means he is not appearing to be Bush Lite on the drilling — taking a middle-stance between those who want unfettered drilling and always mention ANWR in the same breath and those such as Democratic presumptive Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama who oppose drilling.

The issue is more complex than it may appear at first glance: despite a widespread perception that most Americans remain opposed to drilling in once-taboo areas, a recent Gallup poll found “57 percent of Americans would support drilling in the nation’s coastal and wilderness areas that are currently closed to exploration if it helped reduce gasoline prices and if the drilling was conducted under strict environmental controls,” US News reports.

But the wildlife refuge?

Those who oppose it have pointed to experts who say it would do little for a short or even long term fix, and mostly be a big, fat ladle of gravy handed over to the oil companies. Here’s one of the websites arguing against it. Some mainstream news media also reached the same conclusion — as you can see here and here.

“One reason why I’m now far more in favor of off shore drilling is the price of oil,’’ he said. But he said that he did not believe that the price was so high that he would reconsider his position on drilling in the wildlife refuge.

Bush and his talk show and web supporters have made ANWR a kind of rallying cry, but have been thwarted repeatedly. And to environmentalists, perhaps more than the thorny issue of offshore drilling, it has become a kind of line in the ice.

Add to that a slew of images of the preserve that are online — images showing pristine scenery and endangered Polar Bears — and it’s hard to believe any Republican who claims to be a descendant of conservationist President TR Roosevelt could ever advocate drilling there.

McCain often likes to paint himself as a modern day Teddy Roosevelt. And while he’ll take lots of heat for changing his position on offshore drilling, and will have environmental groups working against him, sticking with his position on ANWR will set him apart from both packs — and maintain some of the independent image he had that eroded as he has tried to please the GOP’s conservative base and show loyalty to George Bush.

McCain again when asked about changing his position:

“No, but again, if somebody says, ‘will you look at this information,’ that the guy stood up at the town hall meeting, `I know how you can make it environmentally and totally safe,’ I’ll be glad to look at that information,’’ he said. “I think it’s incumbent on me to review it. But I certainly haven’t changed my position.”

And unless he changes his position, his current position now puts him between the viewpoints of establishment Republicans (yes on offshore drilling and drill in ANWR) and most Democrats (no on offshore drilling and don’t drill in ANWR).

So McCain’s precarious political tightrope walk continues — shaky, but it continues..