Florida Gov. Crist Reverses Position on Offshore Drilling

Flip-flop? Not really. Taking a position at $45 per barrel oil doesn't mean you'd still take that same position at $145 per barrel oil. As the costs of a policy change, the benefit of the bargain changes too.

McCain can learn something from Crist.

Gov. Charlie Crist backed away from his long-held opposition to offshore drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and applauded Sen. John McCain's call to lift a federal moratorium on coastal state oil drilling, saying the Republican presidential candidate's proposal "is certainly appropriate."

Crist went on to say he believes that drilling for oil in the Gulf could possibly bring down gas prices and that he wants a study on the issue.

"I hope I have a reputation of wanting to protect this environment, because I do. But I also have to balance that, as every citizen does, with what's happening to Florida families, what's happening to this economy, how dependent we are on foreign oil. And how difficult is that for our fellow Floridians and our fellow Americans and the drag that it's having on our economy is obvious. We're a tourist state. We have to protect the beauty of Florida. But people need to have the opportunity to drive here and be able to afford to do that, too," Crist said.

"Reaching a conclusion about what's right or not right at this juncture is hard to do. There are new technologies available that people who are scientists and much more learned about this kind of thing than I should weigh in on," Crist said today.

Studies are good. They allow a politician to blame an outside authority for his change of position.

Let's hear McCain call for some "studies" on ANWR.

This actually vindicates McCain, partly, on his hedge/dodge of punting the question to the states. It gets us to the same place of the states, in turn, enact the right policy.

I expected Florida to do this, though. They're not lunatics like Californians.

And if the states should be permitted to make these decisions, why doesn't McCain leave the ANWR question to Alaskans? The Alaskans have been chomping at the bit to drill in ANWR since forever ago.

posted by Ace at 04:36 PM

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