State Senator Tom McClintock Wednesday called upon Charlie Brown to explain wildly inconsistent statements he has made on offshore drilling and renewed his call for Brown to join him in a bi-partisan call for Nancy Pelosi to bring Congress back from vacation for a straight up or down vote on off-shore drilling.   

On July 22, Brown announced his opposition to opening new American territory for offshore oil development.  Politicker.com reported, “Brown opposed drilling for oil in areas where it isn't already allowed, such as off the coasts of many states, including California.”  http://www.politickerca.com

And yet on Friday, Brown spokesman Todd Stenhouse told Politicker.com that Brown favors both the Republican and Democratic proposals on energy.   The Republican plan, which McClintock endorses, calls for opening new offshore territory to oil exploration.  http://www.politickerca.com 

“It’s about time for some straight talk on opening up American energy resources.  It was politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths that got us into this predicament,” McClintock said. 

“If Brown can’t stand up to Pelosi on a real energy plan for America, when Americans want increased drilling, how will he hold the line on out-of-control spending and federal earmarks?” McClintock asked. 

In a speech in Butte County on Saturday, McClintock also took on Brown for arguing that new oil drilling would take years to produce new oil and thus bring no immediate relief to consumers.   “That’s the same argument we’ve heard from the liberals for many years as an excuse for crippling our oil production,” McClintock said.  “The fact is, they were wrong then and they’re wrong now.  And, if we had rejected them then we wouldn’t be in this mess now.”

McClintock said “Excuses against opening American land for American production would be laughable if they weren’t destroying our economy, our independence and our quality of life in the process.”