Offshore drilling might actually be a rather popular idea among voters.  An  article on the front page of The Boston Globe said that “whatever the merits of the idea, most Americans agree with John McCain about ending the federal ban on offshore drilling.”  Citing a mid-May Gallup poll, 57 percent of those polled responded Yes when asked “whether you would favor … Allowing oil drilling in the U.S. coastal and wilderness areas now off-limits to oil exploration?”

“Idea of offshore drilling seems to be spreading,” admitted a New York Times headline Thursday, citing several politicians who have recently made calls for “cautious reconsideration” of the federal ban on offshore drilling.  Among the several politicians mentioned are Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the chairman of the Senate Environment Preservation and Conservation Committee, Burt L. Saunders.

Seven coastal governors pledged on Friday to protect their coasts from offshore drilling, reported Fox News, citing tourism and offshore industries as the lead causes for opposition.  “It makes no sense for states to put our important beaches, fisheries and coastal habitats and multi-billion dollar tourism economies at such risk for so little gain,” said Mike Daulton, Director of Conservation Policy for the Audobon Society.  But the vice chairwoman of the Florida Tourism Commission, Nicki Grossman, said Wednesday that gasoline prices might trump the opposition to drilling.

The heavy-hitting support for lifting the ban is new to this month, with McCain changing positions on Monday the 16^th and President Bush calling on Wednesday for exploration of 3 million acres of ocean floor off the coast of Virginia.  Both men previously had expressed official support the 26-year-old moratorium on offshore drilling.  The spike in oil and gas prices, however, seems to have become a catalyst for politicians who find themselves friendlier toward offshore oil drilling than perhaps they could admit otherwise.