Published: July 18, 2008 01:54 am            

Oil drilling burning issue in Washington

Opinion polls show Americans favor energy exploration more than ever before

WASHINGTON — To drill or not to drill is the new burning question on Capitol Hill.

Recent public opinion polls show more Americans favoring energy exploration than ever before, even in environmentally sensitive spots like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Half of the people surveyed by the Pew Research Center now support drilling in ANWR, up from 42 percent in February.

Another recent poll, conducted by the Los Angeles Times, found 57 percent of those surveyed would support increased domestic drilling as long as it posed no harm to the environment.

Congressional Quarterly reports that much of the increase in support for energy exploration is attributable to young people, liberals, independents, women and college-educated voters — groups that lean Democrat.

This shift in attitudes, as documented by the opinion polls, could be enough to even sway Democratic candidates who traditionally oppose expanded drilling.

“I’ve been following national polls on energy as the price of gas has skyrocketed,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “Here’s the long and short of it: People are desperate for solutions, and so they are grabbing onto a wide range of possibilities, including some they have rejected or doubted in the past from off-shore exploration to ANWR to nuclear power to conservation to alternative energy sources.

“Voters seem to be saying, ‘Give us some relief. Try everything if you have to.’”

The average price of gasoline Thursday in West Virginia was $4.11 a gallon, according to AAA. At the same time last year, it was $3.04.

Sabato, one of the nation’s top political analysts, believes neither party has managed to drum up any solutions that resonate with the voters.

“The party that will win on this issue is the one that gives voters a sense that they have real answers and can find a way to deliver,” he said. “Neither party nor presidential nominee has achieved that as yet. Energy is vital to this year’s election because it is directly tied to the No. 1 issue, the economy. So the party or candidate who cracks the code on energy can have a leg up.”

Energy has surfaced as a dominant issue already in West Virginia congressional campaigns, particularly in the 2nd District race between Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and her Democratic challenger Anne Barth.

Capito, a four-term congresswoman, has supported drilling in ANWR and offshore.

Barth stated this week she is open to expanded drilling, but believes the country should first focus on drilling on lands that are already leased.

“I favor exploring options for new drilling and opening the strategic reserve,” Barth said. “I have always said exploring more areas in the continental shelf should be on the table, but currently only 19 percent of the 41 million acres we already have leased there are in production. Our immediate priority should be drilling the permits we already have.”

She added, “The problem of high gas prices is too urgent and too important to politicize just so we can have a summer-long partisan battle before the election. West Virginians don’t care about political theater; they simply expect Congress do something about outrageous gas prices now.”

Capito spokesman Kent Gates said Barth masks her opposition to increased domestic drilling by making such comments.

“It is clear that Anne Barth is opposed to increasing the production of domestic oil and is reading off a set of false talking points to camouflage her position with voters who are seeking relief from high gas prices,” Gates said. “She seems to be offering a three percent solution to a crisis that demands 100 percent action by Congress.”

On Wednesday, the Barth campaign attacked Capito for taking contributions from big oil companies like Exxon and Marathon in previous years, including this election cycle.

“These are very powerful and controversial special interest groups that have hiked up our gas prices and exploited working families,” said Barth spokesman Mark Ferrell. “This campaign will not take money from big oil.”

In Congress, Capito has introduced coal-to-liquids legislation that would mandate the production of six billion gallons of coal-derived fuel annually by the year 2022. She has also joined a bipartisan group of 23 House members, almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, to seek compromise on energy solutions. They held their first meeting Monday and claim that everyone’s tired of partisan bickering over energy policies.

Congressman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., has also been at the forefront of energy discussion. The 16-term congressman is chairman of the House Resources Committee. He is up for reelection this year and will face Republican businessman Marty Gearheart.

Rahall has pushed several initiatives including coal-to-liquids expansion and calling on the president to release oil from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He has stopped short, however, of supporting increased domestic drilling.

At a Wednesday press conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of Con-way Freight Company, Gov. Joe Manchin said the gas price debate would affect just about every race this year, from Congress to the state level.

Manchin is active in the National Governors Association and chairs the Democratic Governors Association.

“I wish I could wave a wand; every governor does,” Manchin said. “It’s the biggest challenge we have. We’ve heard it all in the debates — there should be more drilling and converting coal into liquid. I think we should be doing everything humanly possible to become more independent and more secure as a nation.

“We seem to be talking and arguing about it, and we’re not moving in the right direction. That’s concerning us, especially to me as a governor and to my colleagues.”

        

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