Marathon Pundit: McCain's weekly radio address: Georgia and energy

Saturday, August 16, 2008

McCain's weekly radio address: Georgia and energy

Even before the Russian invasion of Georgia, the Caucusus nation's neighborhood was a dangerous one. In his weekly radion address, John McCain reminds listeners that the vital The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline passes through Georgia. And if the flow from that pipleline was cut off, the result would mean even higher energy prices.

From McCain's address:

Another very serious concern is the effect of this aggression and conflict on the world energy market. For some time now, I have been making the case for a dramatic acceleration of domestic energy production, primarily on economic grounds. With high prices and growing demand for oil and gas, Americans cannot remain dependent upon others for the most vital of commodities. But now we are reminded that energy policy is also a matter of the highest priority for our nation's security.

Some political leaders still speak as if America's domestic economy and our security interests abroad were largely unrelated. But the error in this way of thinking becomes more apparent every year, and especially so in the case of the world's energy supply. One disruption of supply abroad can suddenly raise energy prices, inflicting great harm on our economy and on America workers. And in the term of the next president, skillful handling of such a crisis could be the difference between temporary hardship and far-reaching disaster.

All of this only adds to the urgency of producing more of our own energy, including America's enormous oil reserves that lie offshore. We need to drill here and drill now, so that our energy supplies and the strength of our economy do not depend on the decisions or dictates of foreign powers.

On energy policy, my opponent and his allies in Congress offer only half measures or no measures at all -- as in their shared opposition to offshore drilling. In the long term, most everyone agrees that America must shift toward alternative energies like wind, solar, tide, hydrogen, and bio-fuels. But my opponent's policies fail to meet the challenges of the immediate future. To achieve energy independence, America will need every resource at our disposal, including nuclear power and the use of our abundant coal supplies that lie from Colorado to West Virginia. America has multiple choices in the great test of energy independence and the right answer is "all of the above."