Where’s the Straight Talk on Drilling?

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) today announced that he wants to end the federal government’s moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and gas. Instead of a blanket ban, he prefers that states decide for themselves whether or not to allow exploration and extraction of fossil fuel deposits off their coastlines.

In light of McCain’s new federalist offshore drilling policy, his continued support for the federal government’s moratorium on drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge doesn’t make much sense. After all, an overwhelming majority of Alaskans want to lift the ban.

By McCain’s reasoning, Florida and California should get to dictate drilling policy on federal lands 100 miles off their coasts, but Alaska shouldn’t be afforded the same privilege on federal land located within its borders.  

Apparently, McCain believes that some states have more rights than others.