Democrats Should Let Us Drill

By Mitch McConnell
Friday, July 18, 2008

Now that an executive-branch ban on offshore oil exploration has been lifted, the time has come for Democrats in Washington to lift their own ban on increased domestic supply. Americans are demanding that Congress do something about record-high gas prices. They recognize that prices will not go down unless supplies go up. And they also know that the only thing now standing in the way of more domestic supply is the Democratic refusal to allow it.

A recent Pew poll provides the evidence of a growing consensus on the issue. As gas prices have spiked by about 30% over the past five months, the percentage of Americans who support more domestic energy exploration and less reliance on Middle East oil has jumped too, to 47% from 35%. Most striking: Among self-described liberals, support for increased domestic exploration has jumped to 45% from 22% in just five months.

Swift and dramatic public opinion shifts like this are rare, and Democrats are starting to take notice. Just last month, most Democrats on Capitol Hill were reiterating their long-held opposition to any new domestic production. Their presidential nominee was saying that less consumption, not more supply, was the only answer to the problem. In the face of growing public frustration, their opposition is melting away. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated as much recently when he said exploration was "not off the table." At least 12 other Senate Democrats have joined him since.

Now it's time for the Democrats to show that their recent conversion on domestic exploration is genuine, and Republicans are ready to help them. Just prior to the July Fourth holiday, a group of Republican senators proposed a balanced piece of energy legislation aimed at attracting the greatest number of supporters on both sides of the aisle. The bill, known as the Gas Price Reduction Act of 2008, can be summed up in a single phrase: find more, use less.

The Gas Price Reduction Act is composed of just a few ideas. But taken together, the proposals will address the problem head on. They include deep-sea exploration more than 50 miles off the coasts of the states that want it, lifting a ban on development of the promising and plentiful oil shale deposits in western states, and increased incentives for the development of plug-in electric cars and trucks. The bill also includes provisions to strengthen U.S. futures markets and guard against excessive speculation.

The Gas Price Reduction Act is a sensible approach to gas prices that squarely faces something too many in Washington would rather ignore: the law of supply and demand. Conservation is an idea that both parties support and both parties have addressed legislatively. But if prices are going to go down, supply has to go up too. This means Democrats will have to abandon their traditional opposition to domestic exploration by lifting a congressional ban on off-shore exploration.

In a presidential election year, this presents Congress with a particular challenge. Democrats, eyeing the White House for the first time in eight years, have made no secret of their desire to run out the clock on important legislation until after Inauguration Day. Mr. Reid made this clear when he said recently that he intends to put off, until February, 10 of the 12 appropriations bills that fund the government, and which represent the basic duty of Congress. "I don't think we are going to have a lot of bills on the Senate floor this work period," he told reporters last week. "I hope we can get a couple of them done."

But the general public is becoming frustrated and impatient with purported legislative solutions that only nibble around the edges, or which are guaranteed to fail. Congressional Democrats may be willing to wait for the next six months. Americans who dread pulling into the gas station every day want relief as soon as possible from the heavy burden of high gas prices. They have every right to expect their representatives in Washington to do something now.