Democrats cave on drilling?

NY Times:

For decades, opposition to new offshore oil drilling has been a core principle of Congressional Democrats, ranking in the party pantheon somewhere just below protecting Social Security and increasing the minimum wage.

But a concerted Republican assault over domestic oil production and the threat of political backlash from financially pressed motorists have Democrats poised to embrace a fundamental shift in energy policy.

Even more surprising, the turnabout is led by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who has a history of fighting oil drilling going back to the early days of her career in California.

Under a measure being assembled for a vote in the House next week, oil rigs could go up 50 miles from the shores of states that welcome drilling and 100 miles off any section of the United States coast — a stark reversal on an issue that has been a Democratic environmental touchstone since the 1980s.

“It shows what $4 a gallon gas will do,” said Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow on energy and climate issues at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, an advocacy group.

Republicans and oil industry representatives are skeptical that Democrats are serious about allowing offshore exploration. They say that the outlines of the emerging bill do not go far enough to satisfy them and that the legislation appears intended to do more political than policy good. And they say a decision not to share any new oil royalties with the states eliminates a prime incentive for states to say yes to drilling.

Yet Republicans acknowledge that any move to support expanded offshore oil drilling after years of resistance is a sea change for Democrats, though one resulting from Republican success at elevating domestic oil production into a top-tier issue in the 2008 presidential and Congressional races.

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I think they have latched onto the compromise sponsored by some Republicans in the Senate that appears to be set to bail out Democrats who were in a very weak position. I think the Republicans who pushed this compromise have squandered an opportunity to defeat Democrats this fall. By doing so they will make their on lives miserable as the Democrats continue to mislead the country.