A bad start on energy policy

SF Chronicle editorial

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

For a politician, there's no better way to kiss off California voters than boosting offshore oil drilling. It's not just a third rail - it's the other two as well in a state that enshrines beaches, blue vistas and hard memories of past spills.

But Sen. John McCain doesn't think so, as he unfurls his energy policies. By pitching offshore drilling, he's no doubt hoping $4-plus gas prices will change minds and allow new derricks to dot the horizon.

Crazy as the idea sounds here, McCain is providing a useful service. He's giving the nation a chance to compare his energy plans with those of Sen. Barack Obama and see the policy gulf that separates the two. Right now, the subject eclipses all else as oil prices sail ever higher and a fill-up ticks past $50.

There's a lot of overlap between the two candidates. Both accept the reality of global warming and the need for serious limits on tailpipe and smokestack emissions. That's a huge change from the current White House, where the approach to climate change has evolved from denial to ambivalence. Also, both McCain and Obama favor pacts with China, India and other major polluters to cut greenhouse gases. Each candidate can also see more nuclear power under the right conditions.

But from these starting points, it's a question of degree. Obama leans on government initiative, choosing tax subsidies, new research money, tougher limits on greenhouse gases and that handy (and mistaken) crowd-pleaser, a windfall tax on oil firms to help pay the bills.

(Continued here.)