offshore oil drilling

New Jerseyans say gasoline prices is the economic issue that worries them the most, and by a 64%-34% margin, state voters support offshore oil drilling, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. New Jersey voters also support new nuclear power plants (61%-32%) and drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuse (53%-41%).

Barack Obama has shifted his energy strategy after the McCain campaign pounced on comments Obama made about properly inflating our tires.

The environment is Republican Andy Harris' biggest hurdle on his path to Congress from the 1st District, though the issue has been largely absent from voters' minds in times of heightened focus on the economy and foreign affairs.

Yet this vulnerability made it all the more surprising when his campaign rejected the NIMBY argument and embraced the policy of off-shore drilling last month.

Now, a story is kicking around that GOP presidential candidate John McCain cancelled a photo-op on an oil rig not because of the stated reason of weather, but because of a spill.

If the story gets legs, it could rocket the issue in the 1st's shore-based economy.

Following a high-profile flap last week between California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and GOP presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain over whether the moratorium on offshore oil drilling off the California coast should be lifted, the two politicians met in Santa Barbara Tuesday and acted like the disagreement never happened.

U.S. Sen. John McCain: Getty Images PhotoU.S Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has added a Tuesday morning appearance in Santa Barbara to his California swing, with his campaign Web site saying the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will have an environmental briefing.

The appearance will be at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, with doors opening at 7:30 a.m. The event is open to the public and McCain is scheduled to speak at about 9 a.m.

The appearance will be at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, with doors opening at 7:30 a.m. The event is open to the public and McCain is scheduled to speak at about 9 a.m.

Although California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and presumptive GOP nominee John McCain are all but politically attached at the hip, Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that McCain's endorsement of President Bush's call to lift the moratorium on offshore oil drilling had no chance of getting a "green light" in Hollywood parlance.

"California's coastline is an international treasure. I do not support lifting this moratorium on new oil drilling off our coast," the governor said in a statement Wednesday.