>>>
news" begins now.
>>>
good evening. some
americans
have an opinion of
offshore drilling
that was first formed decades ago with those pictures of oil on the beaches in
santa barbara
, california. others see it differently. they say time and technology have changed things. they say in order to lessen our dependence on
foreign oil
and keep
gas prices
low, we've got to bring more of it out of the ground and from under the sea with other solutions still in the works. remember, "drill, baby, drill," became a chant at the gop convention. today the president surprised a lot of people by calling for
offshore drilling
across a vance expansive ocean along well-known stretches of our coastline.
chuck todd
is across town at the
white house
.
>>
reporter: good evening, brian. in the world of domestic democratic politics, it's akin to a
nixon goes to china
moment, a democratic president bucking a powerful
interest group
, environmentalists on the issue of
oil drilling
.
>>
this is not a decision that i've made lightly.
>>
reporter: the president announced a surprising new energy initiative to expand
offshore drilling
.
>>
given our energy needs, in order to sustain
economic growth
and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel, even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable
home grown
energy.
>>
reporter: it is a shift from rhetoric when the president was candidate obama campaigning in
florida
.
>>
when i'm president i intend to keep in place the moratorium here in
florida
and around the country that prevents
oil companies
from drilling off
florida
's coasts.
>>
reporter: during the campaign with soaring
gas prices
, republicans pounced.
>>
drill, baby, drill.
>>
reporter: by the fall, candidate obama signalled an openness to some drilling. this plan would allow
offshore drilling
in the
atlantic ocean
50 miles off the seaboard of the
united states
from delaware to
central florida
. 125 miles in the
gulf of mexico
, open new areas of drilling in the
arctic sea
and alaska but protect
bristol bay
. the expansion could free up anywhere from 40 to 60 billion
barrels of oil
total, but that would cover the country's energy needs for just an additional five to ten years. environmentalists are not happy.
>>
any expansion of drilling we think is too aggressive, mainly because drilling is a dirty and dangerous business we think is incompatible with our coastlines and beaches and with coastal economies.
>>
reporter: today's announcement was as much about congressional politics as
energy independence
. earlier
senator lindsey graham
hinted the president was going to need to make a grand gesture if he wants republicans to support anything on energy and
climate change
.
>>
there is not 60 votes doing energy-only for
offshore drilling
. only when you marry up
climate change
, cleaning up the air with
energy independence
do you get the transformational aspects of
energy independence
i'm hoping for.
>>
reporter: by the way, brian, the announcement today by the president was made at a
military base
that was yet another
olive branch
to republicans as graham believes if the president couches this as a
national security
issue, he has a better chance to get republicans onboard, the entire
climate change
legislation p.
>>
all right.
chuck todd
at the
white house
in
washington
starting us off. now we
“ ”