John McCain, 1996: “Too often the public views Republicans as favoring big business at the expense of the environment, and as too eager to swing the meat ax of repeal when the scalpel of reform is what’s needed.”

John McCain, 2008: “Tomorrow I’ll call for lifting the federal moratorium [on offshore drilling] for states that choose to permit exploration … I think that this and perhaps providing additional incentives for states to permit exploration off their coasts would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis.”

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