AH-NULD!
Schwarzenegger criticizes McCain’s offshore drilling proposal
At a Florida conference on global warming, California’s governor says drilling will not bring down oil prices, and he urges consumers to use more renewable resources.
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
7:47 PM PDT, June 26, 2008 MIAMI — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a veiled swipe at Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Thursday when he said at a climate conference here that anyone suggesting offshore oil drilling could bring down gas prices was “blowing smoke.”The remark was also a dig at his host, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who riled environmentalists, tourism promoters and the state’s political leaders on both sides of the aisle last week when he voiced support for McCain’s proposal to lift bans on exploring for oil off the coasts of California, Florida and the Eastern Seaboard.
McCain and Crist, whom the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is rumored to be considering as his running mate, have come in for heavy criticism for backing exploration that many Floridians and Californians fear could pollute the coastal playgrounds that are vital to their states’ tourism-dependent economies.
