Offshore Drilling

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has changed her stance on offshore drilling, saying North Carolina should have the option of allowing oil exploration off the state's coast. In a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press, Dole said she supports lifting a 27-year-old moratorium on Atlantic drilling that has prohibited exploration off the coast. "Now, more than ever, responsible and practical steps are needed to increase our energy independence and strengthen economic and national security," Dole said. She plans to sign on to a GOP measure allowing states to open areas at least 50 miles off their shorelines to exploration that could bring in extra revenue for the states. For years, Dole had supported the ban on oil exploration, saying it was necessary to protect tourism and marine habitat. But as gas prices have passed $4 a gallon, Dole has increasingly softened her stance on offshore exploration. She said at a forum last weekend with her Democratic challenger, Kay Hagan, that she still opposed the idea but would consider a measure if it came across her desk.
Hagan, like many Democrats in Congress, opposes the offshore drilling plan. Hagan's campaign said the drilling plan indicates that Dole and other politicians have given oil companies too much power over Washington. "In an election year, it's no wonder Sen. Dole is running from gas prices that are pushing $5 a gallon, pushing a faux plan that will do nothing to lower our gas prices in the short-term and will actually do harm to our coastline in the long-term," Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said. Republicans, including presidential candidate John McCain, have said offshore drilling could help the nation ease its dependence on foreign oil and provide short-term relief to gas prices. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has opposed the idea. Gov. Mike Easley said last week he sees a "very poor" chance that North Carolina would move to allow offshore drilling if the federal ban was ever lifted. (Mike Baker, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 6/26/08).