Gulf drilling's policy effects 'horrendous,' Bob Graham says

WASHINGTON — Bob Graham, a former Florida governor and U.S. senator, said today that allowing offshore oil drilling would not affect the price of gasoline but could have "horrendous" consequences for the nation's energy policy.

Graham was part of a telephone conference call organized by Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Also on the call were North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, both Democrats.
The conference came on the same day President Bush added his voice to that of GOP presumptive nominee John McCain's call for lifting the national ban on oil and gas drilling in the nation's Outer Continental Shelf.
Graham noted that McCain had taken the opposite position in 2000 when he was running for president and was part of a bipartisan coalition that opposed drilling off the Florida coast.

Allowing offshore drilling would do little to lower oil prices because the United States' entire petroleum reserves — including Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf — are about 3 percent of the world's, while the U.S. consumes roughly 25 percent of the world's oil, Graham said.
Noting it would take roughly a decade before new offshore territory could begin producing oil and gas, Graham said it would not affect current gasoline prices. Worse, he said it would distract the country from pursuing alternative energy policies.

But Graham said he was concerned that McCain's proposal — which has received a warm reception from Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez and other Republicans in the Florida congressional delegation — could jeopardize the state's bipartisan opposition to drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Graham called the oil industry among "the most powerful political and economic forces in America," and warned that unless Florida lawmakers stay united they could see the moratorium lifted off the Florida coast. ..... "There have been more politicians who went to the graveyard because they thought their voters were stupid and could be sold a bogus bill of goods than probably for any other reason," Graham said.

"Our people are not stupid. They understand that the time that would be required to go through all the processes of leasing the property, having the winning bidders put their pipes down for exploration and then for exploitation, and that that's going to take years and years and that this issue has nothing to do with the current prices of gasoline. ... I don't think you can sell that."

.....