Lindsey Graham, one of the several Senators who was likely targeted by the Obama amdinistration with their announced expansion of offshore srilling yesterday, wants even more. Since he is writing the bill, he will likely get it:
Graham called the White House plan a "good first step" but added, "there is more that must be done to make this proposal meaningful and the game-changer we all want it to become."
"Among the areas we still need to address - encouraging states to allow exploration by sharing a portion of the revenue raised from oil and gas drilling, opening even more areas of the Eastern Gulf to exploration, the inclusion of viable drilling sites in the Atlantic and Pacific, and expanding the list of areas we inventory for possible reservoirs of oil and gas," Graham said.
Graham plans to unveil broad climate change and energy legislation later this month with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
A lot of people criticized the White House yesterday for giving in on negotiations over offshore drilling long before it was assured that either Lindsey Graham, or the various coastal conservative Democratic Senators who support offshore drilling, had actually pledged support for the climate bill. Basically, giving in to offshore drilling like this is bad enough, but giving while getting nothing in return is worse.
However, as bad as people though yesterday's announcement on offshore drilling was, it is likely that it was always intended to just be a starting point, and that the final deal on offshore drilling would be even worse. Even though it is comforting for many to believe so, the Obama administration is well aware of things like basic legislative negotiating strategy. As such, giving some ground now on offshore drilling is likely a sign that they always intended to give even more in the future, and just put this up as an opening offer.
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