NJ Dems oppose offshore drilling

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Top New Jersey Democrats on Monday said they want to permanently extend a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling from Maine to North Carolina. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and Gov. Jon S. Corzine said a permanent ban is needed to protect the New Jersey shore, which they said is key to the state's economy. Republicans want to lift the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. President Bush and John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, have proposed repealing the drilling ban to try to help lower oil costs that have brought the nation $4-a-gallon gasoline. "The Bush-McCain plan is a gift to the oil companies that endangers the economic and environmental health of the Jersey Shore and our entire state," Lautenberg said during a news conference in... [read full story]