$10 Gas Doesn't Change Dem Senator's Mind on Oil Drilling

There was a rather extraordinary confrontation on the Senate floor Thursday involving offshore oil drilling that got very little press coverage.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) tried to get Democrats to vote on a measure that would open up such drilling if the price of gasoline reached a certain level.

Although the "bidding" eventually reached $10 a gallon, Colorado's Ken Salazar continually objected.

As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune Friday (video embedded right):

In back-and-forth bickering on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell attempted to force Democrats to vote on a measure opening up coastal waters for drilling when gas reached $4.50, $5 or even $7.50 a gallon.

"If $5-gallon gasoline isn't an emergency, I have to ask what is an emergency?" McConnell said.

"It's a phantom solution," countered Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo, noting that such drilling would not affect gas prices in the short term.

Oddly, Google news and LexisNexis searches produced little coverage of this incident. Isn't it newsworthy that Democrats wouldn't expand drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf even if gasoline reached $10 a gallon?

I guess not.