From the transcript:

WALLACE: All right, but let me ask you, if it is such a crisis and because of that the senator has decided to end his long-held opposition to drilling along the coastlines of Florida and California, why not also drill in ANWR?

RIDGE: Well, my friend would give you a straightforward answer. Apparently he's seen the region, feels very strongly about the region up in Alaska and he said no.

We'll begin the process. We'll drill offshore. I'm not sure his feet are in cement on this if prices go to $10 a gallon and whatever.

But right now, he would prefer to see what these other measures that we would take -- drilling, nuclear, alternatives, conservation, clean coal technology -- before we really go into the pristine environment up in Alaska.

By the way, which we could do in a very protective, environmentally sensitive way, but John says today, "No, we won't do it. Let's go after these other alternatives first."

WALLACE: That's part of the answer I don't understand. He keeps saying that ANWR is pristine. Is ANWR, which is as we just showed a map, in the farthest northern reaches of Alaska that most of us will never see -- is that any more pristine than the coastlines and the sea life along California and Florida?

RIDGE: Well, I use the word pristine, and I guess we've all enjoyed the beautiful coast of Florida and California. But right now, my friend John has said, "Look, there are many, many different things we need to do in a very aggressive way." ...

So, bottom line, McCain feels that drilling in ANWR is not OK because the area is too sensitive in terms of potential damage to the environment   However, McCain apparently feels that the rest of the country is fair-game when it comes to off-shore drilling.  

Talk about a man without any principles.  He not only flip-flopped on off-shore drilling, but now insults the residents of all coastal areas by stating that, in effect, their areas are "not pristine enough" to try to protect from potential environmental damage.  

Not sure if the McCain camp realizes that 55-60% of Americans now live in coastal areas (this includes only people living in counties adjacent to the coast, not whole states), and that by 2025, 75% of Americans are projected to be living in coastal counties: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/websites/re tiredsites/natdia_pdf/3hinrichsen.pdf

We're not only talking about coastal residents of states like Florida and California, which Wallace mentioned, but also about the residents of states bordering the Great Lakes - like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Why not do off-shore drilling in the Great Lakes ?

It should be noted in all this that McCain is opposed to drilling in ANWR for the time being ("I'm not sure his feet are in cement on this"); if prices hit $10 a gallon he'll be willing to flip-flop on ANWR too as his surrogate admits.  McCain simply cannot be trusted to become the next President of the United States.