Candidates jockey more on energy policy

John McCain and Barack Obama are going at it again today on record-high gas prices and the energy crunch.

In his second speech in two days on energy security, McCain renewed his call to lift the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, though any relief would be years away.

"In the short term, this requires more domestic production, especially in the Outer Continental Shelf. We need to encourage production in ways that are consistent with sensible standards of environmental protection," he said in Springfield, Mo.

President Bush joined McCain's call today, urging Congress to lift the drilling moratorium that has been in effect since 1981 in more than 80 percent of the country's Outer Continental Shelf.

McCain also hit Obama again for opposing a gas tax holiday and instead supporting a windfall profits tax on oil companies to help families pay energy costs.

"Instead of new energy production, he wants new energy taxes," the presumptive Republican nominee said in prepared remarks. "And he's against any tax relief to give folks a break at the pump. I've noticed a pattern here. When the speechmaking is over and you stop to figure out what all the rhetoric really amounts to, the answer is usually some new tax."

Obama, meanwhile, continued hammering McCain's proposals as both ineffective and more to the benefit of oil producers than motorists and consumers.

“The fact that oil executives are happy with his new position on offshore drilling, and the Saudis would seemingly be supportive of his gas tax holiday gimmick, says everything we need to know about the effectiveness of John McCain’s ideas in advancing our energy independence,” campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.