“Drill, baby, drill” was the Republican mantra during the campaign. The GOP concluded – and nervous Democrats agreed – that the public wanted no potential source of cheap gas left undrilled.

Now Skip Stam of Apex, the Republican House leader, wades into the debate with a novel justification for drilling off North Carolina’s coast: It would be good for tourism.

Stam said last week that offshore rigs would be an ideal day-trip destination for people wanting to see the drilling up close.

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