John McCain says nation must drill new oil wells now, while supporting innovative transportation technologies and "the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas."
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)ST. PAUL, Minn.--John McCain formally accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination here on Thursday in a speech extolling the virtues of both oil drilling and green energy.
The Arizona senator received one of his loudest rounds of applause when he lashed out at his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, and characterized the dispute over oil drilling as a matter of international relations and security as well as economics.
"We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much," McCain said. "We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now."
He added: "Sen. Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet."
McCain's speech comes a day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his vice presidential pick, said her state was ready to provide more energy for America. "The fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.
McCain went out of his way to tout green technology. In addition to building more nuclear power plants, he said: "We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles."
A comparison of McCain and Obama's energy plans shows that the Republican opposes existing federal government ethanol production targets and would eliminate a tariff on Brazilian ethanol, a move that would expose U.S. producers to more competition. Obama supports the ethanol regulations (one factor that has led to higher corn prices), wants to raise automotive fuel-efficiency rules, and is not willing at the moment to support expanding nuclear power.
Last month, Obama signaled he might be open to new offshore drilling in some circumstances.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Wednesday called for more domestic oil and natural gas drilling, pulling the McCain ticket further from the clean-tech industry.
In her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Palin touted her accomplishments in laying more pipelines and creating more competition among oil companies as governor of Alaska.
Alaska governor Sarah Palin
If elected, she said that a McCain-Palin administration would tap more oil and gas from Alaska, while investing in nuclear energy and so-called clean coal, where pollution is stored underground at coal power plants.
"We Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already.
But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.
McCain, too, has called for more domestic oil and gas production but has opposed drilling in Alaska's North Slope. He advocates a massive increase in nuclear power, with the goal of building 45 new reactors by 2030.
In policies generally favored by the clean-energy industry, McCain supports national cap-and-trade carbon emissions regulations and tax credits for people who purchase fuel-efficient cars. Both McCain and Palin promised investments in renewable sources of energy--solar, wind, and geothermal.
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