Republican Sen. John McCain today called for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, a move that would let states decide whether oil rigs would sprout up along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines.The move is a dramatic break with the environmental groups McCain has been courting for months, but is designed to reassure voters angry about rising gas prices. McCain said he would push for new incentives to help convince state officials to allow the drilling once the 27-year-old federal ban is lifted.

With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the Republican presidential contender said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."

That of course is horseshit as oil is traded on a global market and any oil tapped from the ocean (or ANWR, for that matter) would have little if any influence on the price of oil. Even if it had a nominal effect it would be at least five years before US consumers saw it. It's not like US oil companies would find new oil reserves and only sell it to Americans for a discount. They sell it to the highest bidder, which may be China or India. And then there's the problem of refineries…But that's a more complicated message than telling the American people that crazy environmentalists are keeping gas prices high by blocking exploration on our own shores. So much for straight talk.

Just a recap: McCain was AWOL on the windfall profits tax debate in the Senate (a failed Carter relic that he says he'd be "glad to look at"). He had nothing to say about Rep. John Peterson's effort to lift the offshore drilling ban when it was up for a vote last week. And as I noted back on May 22, he has channeled the entire Democrat presidential field's class warfare rhetoric and repeatedly referred to the oil industry's "obscene profits." Now, he's announced he wants to lift the offshore drilling moratorium and will give an energy speech tomorrow. He was for it before he was against it before he was for it again. Positively Kerryesque:

In light of our soaring energy costs, John McCain wants the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling to be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their own coasts. With gasoline prices rising and the good old US chronically dependent on foreign oil, McCain said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis." He even wants to go so far as to offer the states incentives, including a greater share of royalties paid by companies that drill for oil, as an incentive to permit exploration. Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation. Wow, imagine how delightful our beaches will be?! He offered no other details for his proposal, which he is expected to describe more fully on Tuesday in an energy speech. Stay tuned for that.