McCain runs into opposition over offshore oil plan

SANTA BARBARA, California (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Tuesday ran into opposition in environmentally conscious California to his policy switch in favor of U.S. offshore oil drilling.

McCain appeared with California's popular Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History to promote his ideas on how to wean the United States from foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

Outside the museum, a group of protesters took issue with McCain over backing offshore oil drilling, chanting "Get oil out" and holding up such signs as, "Not off our coast" and "We can't drill our way out of the energy crisis."

Inside, during a round-table discussion, McCain heard complaints from a panelist, Michael Feeney, executive director of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. Feeney did not specifically mention McCain, who will face Democrat Barack Obama in the November presidential election.

Santa Barbara was the site of a major oil spill in 1969.

"It makes me nervous to think about those who are proposing to drain America's offshore oil and gas reserves as quickly as possible in hopes of driving down the price of gasoline," Feeney said.

Feeney also said he opposed McCain's plan to jump-start the building of new nuclear reactor plants for meeting America's rising energy demands.

Obama, too, criticized McCain's proposal to encourage the building of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030. He said it lacked a plan for waste storage and was among several energy-strategy ideas that Obama said were "not serious energy policies."

Obama spoke in Nevada, a state where proposals to build a nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain have generated strong opposition. He also took aim at McCain's plan to allow more offshore U.S. oil drilling.

"It doesn't make sense for America," the Illinois senator said. "In fact, it makes about as much sense as his proposal to build 45 new nuclear reactors without a plan to store the waste some place other than right here at Yucca Mountain."

"EUROPEANS ARE DOING IT"

McCain contested Feeney's remarks on nuclear plants.

"The technology is there. The Europeans are doing it. It's safe," McCain said.

In his prepared speech opening the discussion, McCain did not list offshore drilling but did cite the need for more domestic energy production.

"When people are hurting, and struggling to afford gasoline, food, and other necessities, common sense requires that we draw upon America's own vast reserves of oil and natural gas," he said.

In recent days he has said offshore drilling should be determined by the individual states involved.

Schwarzenegger, who also opposes offshore oil drilling, made no comment about it at the event.

The U.S. energy crisis has taken center stage in the presidential campaign as Americans, accustomed to inexpensive fuel, struggle to pay for $4-a-gallon gasoline that has not only made the daily commute to work more expensive but also increased the price of goods and services on down the line.

McCain believes he has a chance to win Democratic-leaning California in the November election and is courting independent voters to help him.

But Democrats are trying to use his policy reversal on offshore drilling to portray him as a Republican who, if elected president, would simply continue the policies of unpopular President George W. Bush.

McCain said if he defeats Obama, the federal government will no longer just preach the virtues of energy efficiency.

"Our federal government is never shy about instructing the American people in good environmental practice. But energy efficiency, like charity, should begin at home," he said.

McCain, an Arizona senator, said he would propose "to put the purchasing power of the United States government on the side of green technology."

He would require the 60,000 cars and trucks purchased every year by the federal government -- except for military vehicles -- be flexible-fuel capable, plug-in hybrid, or cars fueled by clean natural gas.

"If our great goal is to move American transportation toward lower carbon emissions, then it should start with the federal fleet," he said.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)