‘Drilling for Oil’ becomes secondary slogan for GOP

ST. PAUL — It may be a less lofty-sounding message than “service of country,” the official theme of the Republican convention, but “drilling for oil” will also be a common refrain here this week. 

“America’s energy crisis and Democratic negligence on the issue will be a constant theme,” said Brian Schubert, a spokesman for the House GOP conference.

{mosads}House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will hold an event on Wednesday to press Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to allow a vote on legislation backed by Republicans to open up the entire Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and areas in the Rocky Mountains to oil production.

Republicans have sought to tie Democratic opposition to more drilling to high gas prices this summer in hopes of making political gains.

Pelosi has softened her opposition to a drilling vote, saying she would allow a measure that would open up some portion of the OCS to drilling if it is also coupled with the repeal of tax breaks the oil industry now gets and a federal mandate for more renewable electricity production.

In the Senate, meanwhile, support has grown for a compromise bill that would open up portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern Atlantic seaboard to drilling if the states OK the production. Sixteen Democrats and Republicans now have signed on as co-sponsors.

With the differences narrowing, Republicans this week, including at the event Wednesday, are likely to push for much broader access to oil and gas reserves, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Like social conservatives, oil lobbyists and other drilling supporters welcomed the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate. Palin is a firm proponent of drilling in ANWR. McCain remains opposed, but he has expressed a willingness to be convinced he’s wrong.

“Everybody is going to have their eye on the Arctic Refuge,” said Richard Charter, of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

He called the McCain-Palin ticket an “all-out, drill-everywhere ticket.”

In an op-ed in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Boehner listed gas prices first on the list of issues Republicans will talk about this week and throughout the fall, ahead of the economy in general, security and healthcare.

After weeks of decline, gas prices rose again this week with the approach of Hurricane Gustav. Oil prices fell when the storm weakened before landfall. But proponents of drilling said the storm demonstrated the importance of expanding domestic production.

“If we produced more on other parts of the OCS surrounding the country and onshore in places like ANWR’s coastal plain, the country wouldn’t experience such a potentially huge supply disruption,” said Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for the Institute for Energy Resources, a pro-production group.

The National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club are helping sponsor a panel discussion on offshore drilling at Golden’s Deli in St. Paul on Tuesday to combat the Republican push to expand offshore drilling.

Drilling is a “stopgap measure,” said Miranda Wilson, a spokeswoman for Clean Water Action, which is also sponsoring the Tuesday event.

Lawmakers instead should focus on moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming, Wilson said.