McCain joins Obama on offshore drilling

WASHINGTON: A day after Senator Barack Obama said he could support broad energy legislation even though it would permit offshore oil drilling, which he has opposed, an aide to Senator John McCain said Sunday that he too might support such a package.

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In Florida, Obama said that he remained concerned about potential environmental damage from offshore drilling but was open to compromise.

"My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post. "If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well-thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done." The bipartisan package he referred to would include more subsidies for alternative energy sources.

Nancy Pfotenhauer, a McCain economic adviser, said on CNN on Sunday that "Senator McCain is open to compromise packages" on energy.........