McCain would allow state oil exploration

ARLINGTON, Va., June 16 (UPI) -- Presumptive GOP presidential candidate John McCain said Monday he wants to lift a federal moratorium on states choosing to allow oil exploration.

"Americans want to understand better why they are experiencing such difficulties and why the rising cost of gasoline in America is causing them ... to endure very significant economic challenges and pain," McCain said during a news conference in Arlington, Va., previewing a speech he will deliver.

Lifting the moratorium and providing incentives to states to permit exploration off their coasts "would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis," McCain said.

The United States must work to eliminate its dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases by developing alternative energy sources, McCain said, "and ... exploration is a step toward the longer-term goal.

He reiterated his desire of a gas-tax holiday, which would affect "low-income Americans on fixed income who are driving automobiles that consume gasoline at a greater rate, and they're driving further," he said.

McCain repeated his request to likely Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to a series of unscripted town hall meetings. U.S. voters "deserve a better campaign than the kinds that they have ... experienced in recent years," he said.