McCain Camp Calls Obama ‘Dr. No’ on Energy

John McCain’s surrogates are referring to Barack Obama as “Dr. No” for opposing McCain’s call for more domestic offshore oil drilling and 45 new nuclear power plants.

“[C]ontrasted with Sen. McCain’s balanced approach to more production and less use, you have Dr. No,” said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on a McCain campaign conference call Wednesday. Kyl said that Dr. No is a play on Obama’s phrase, ‘Yes, We can.’

Kyl said that when it comes to new approaches to energy sources, Obama is saying, “No, we can’t drill off-shore. No, we can’t go to the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. No, we can’t do oil shale.”

Kyl continued: “Of course, he’s said he’s not a proponent of nuclear, so, no, we can’t do that. And he’s even said, no, we shouldn’t do the reward for the technology improvement for a battery that would allow people to use those kind of vehicles.”

“Dr. No” is also the name of the first “James Bond” film, whose villain, Dr. Julius No, conceived of a plot to disrupt American rocket tests.

Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman, repeated the “Dr. No” talking point when hitting Obama for dismissing McCain’s proposal to award $300 million to the developer of a car battery that leads to greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

“[N]othing really points out Sen. Obama’s Dr. No attitude toward energy security than his comments yesterday calling this a ‘gimmick,'” Rogers said on the conference call.