Is California Ready to Rethink Offshore Oil Drilling?

Offshore oil drilling is almost an abstract issue in California, except in Long Beach and Santa Barbara, where giant rigs dominate the scenery.Now the high price of gasoline has John McCain campaigning to end the federal moratorium on offshore drilling—in those states that approve it.Governor Schwarzenegger is opposed to the idea.State Democratic leaders today denounced it.But as many as 5.6 billion barrels of oil might be available off California—along with 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.