Richardson rips McCain on offshore drilling

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Saturday used the Democrats’ weekly radio address to assail GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) over his plans to allow offshore drilling to reduce the U.S. dependency on foreign oil.

“President Bush and Sen. McCain want to open our pristine wilderness lands and shorelines to unrestricted drilling. That is beyond irresponsible — it is dangerous and unnecessary,” Richardson, who served as energy secretary under Bill Clinton, said. “We’re not against responsible drilling. We believe the oil companies should drill on some of the millions of acres of land they already have but aren’t using.”

{mosads}The governor, who also ran for the presidency before dropping out at the beginning of this year, hailed Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) energy plan as he was panning McCain’s.

“Obama will also raise the fuel standards in our cars and trucks and provide financial help to our automakers and autoworkers to help them make this transition,” Richardson said. “He’ll invest $150 billion over the next ten years in alternative sources of energy like wind power, and solar power, and advanced biofuels, creating up to five million new jobs.”

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson responded by saying that “Obama’s energy policy can be summarized in one word: No.”

She argued that, unlike McCain, the Democrat “has failed to support short-term relief for Americans paying skyrocketing gas prices or long-term solutions to move our nation toward real energy independence.”

With the average cost of a gallon of gas having surpassed $4, the energy debate has taken center stage in the presidential campaign. Earlier this month, McCain reversed his position on offshore drilling and now says the states should decide whether oil exploration should take place off their coasts.

“When people are hurting, and struggling to afford gasoline, food, and other necessities, common sense requires that we draw upon America’s own vast reserves of oil and natural gas,”' McCain said earlier this week in California.

Richardson also touted Obama’s plan to use a windfall profit tax on the oil companies to pay for another economic stimulus measure that will help Americans pay their bills.

The GOP is strongly criticizing the windfall tax approach, which Democratic leaders in Congress are also pursuing.

“As history has shown, that would only drive prices even higher. Any tax would be passed along to consumers at the pump, increasing the financial strain on hard-working, middle-class families who already are struggling,” said Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Penn.), who delivered the Republicans’ weekly address.  “And worse, these Democrat-led tax hikes would discourage energy production here at home, making us less energy independent.”

Gerlach called on Congress to pass legislation extending tax credits for entrepreneurs, researchers and others working to develop renewable energy sources.