Democratic leaders in Congress nervous about the growing grass-roots demand for lifting restrictions on domestic oil drilling.
Consider this: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has himself proposed a plan to open new areas for oil exploration – outraging senior members of his own caucus.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ever aware of the way average Americans are being squeezed at the gas pump and through rising inflation due to higher energy prices, is supporting the plan.
While the proposal is drawing shrieks from those Democrats occupying safe seats in the House and Senate, it shows how vulnerable congressional Democrats might be to an uprising from voters in November.
The legislation, drafted by Reid and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., would open nearly a billion new acres off the coast of Alaska to study for drilling. It would also dramatically accelerate oil leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico.