Pelosi Tells Larry King She May ALLOW Drilling Vote

Maybe it was the easy powder-puff interviewing style of Larry King, or maybe she thought he was having another heart attack and wanted to shock his heart back into a normal rhythm. But when the Self-Proclaimed most powerful woman in all of the world appeared on the Larry King Show last night to sell some books (I think the next copy she sells will be #7) she seemed to back off a bit on her stance of "No Drilling, Ever, I will not even allow a debate." She says that she may allow drilling as long as the package includes some of the the points she wants. Below is a transcript of the relevant part of the show:

KING: OK, Madam Speaker, author of "Know Your Power," why don't you bring them back?

PELOSI: Well, it's interesting to hear Senator McCain talk about bringing Congress back. He wasn't even in Congress this last session when we really had two very important bills on energy -- one to give tax credit for wind, solar and other renewable resources, and another about hybrid cars and the rest. So he wasn't in to vote when were in session and now he's saying call it back in.

And then one of the others said to the president, call Congress back in. And the president said no. The president said no. But the point is this, the point is this. The American people are suffering. We have to do what is best for them.

How do we bring down the prices at the pump?

We have said to the president, the fastest way to do this is -- in 10 days the price can come down if you will free our oil. Over 700 million barrels of oil the president is sitting on of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Number one, free our oil.

Number two, they want to drill. If they want to drill, we have a (INAUDIBLE) -- 68 million acres in the lower 48 that they can drill in that are permitted and all the rest.

Three, stop the speculation.

Four, renew -- invest in renewable energy resources, which will bring a faster return than drilling offshore, which will take 10 years and produce two cents reduction in 10 years off the price at the pump.

And then use natural gas. Natural gas is so plentiful. It's better for the environment and it is cheaper.

So there are things that Congress can do and we have voted on this over and over again. But the Republicans and the president have resisted. Instead, they have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas. Well, we can do that. We can have a vote on that. But it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public and not just a hoax on them.

KING: Would you vote yes on a package that includes drilling?

PELOSI: I would not. It depends how the drilling is put forth. But I don't -- that is not excluded, let me say it that way. It depends how that is proposed, if the safeguards are there. Now, mind you, 68 million acres -- 10 million more acres in Alaska where they can drill. But if there's -- if we can get some great things, in terms of renewable energy resources; a renewable electricity standard; wind, solar, biofuels and the rest in that context, because if you make a decision only to go with the offshore drilling, you are increasing our dependence on fossil fuels and you will never free yourself of that addiction unless you invest in the renewable energy resources that are good for the environment, cheaper for the consumer and will reverse global warming.

And the consumer is our first responsibility. The American taxpayer owns this oil offshore, by the way. Let me make this one final point. This oil is owned by the American taxpayers. The oil companies drill. We give them money to drill there. But we get very little in return.

So I think as we have this debate, which is a very healthy one to have and I welcome it, we have to review and realign the relationship between our oil, big oil's profits and what it means to the consumer and the taxpayer.