Senator John McCain took a step away from the philosophy of President Bush and Veep Dick Cheney yesterday in a speech to Big Oil representatives, according to Reuters saying: "In the face of climate change and other serious challenges, energy conservation is no longer just a moral luxury or a personal virtue. Conservation serves a critical national goal."

McCain also called for creating new sources, and for Congress to lift its NIMBYesque ban on off-shore drilling - the same Congress that sees no problems with the Chinese drilling in the exact same location that the United States could be tapping for its own oil needs.

And how true these statements are - yet the ultra-liberal NPR commentator Scott Horsley managed to poo-poo McCain, despite the fact that conservation was the primary thrust of the Carter administration. That conservation and new energy sources are the hallmarks of message from liberal former-Veep Al Gore, and the buzzwords being thrown about by the man-in-the-suit Senator Barack Obama.

So, Mr. Horsley, how can you say McCain is wrong - but these other guys are right? Please, I think we all deserve an explanation. Your assessment is correct - it will be 7 to 10 years before oil rigs started today would bring new oil to the US marketplace - but it would also have the effect of making the speculators in oil futures sit up and take notice, and stop driving the price through the stratosphere if they thought the US was finally going to get aggressive on tapping its huge reserves.