Californians say "baby, baby, no more drilling"

By Clare Baldwin

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar confronted a host of sea creatures and polar bears on Thursday as costumed Californians told the new administration 'no' to offshore oil drilling.

Salazar did not hint at the contents of President Barack Obama's energy policy, but said it would address climate change and include oil and gas.

"We're not going to turn off the oil and gas requirements we have for this country overnight or even in a decade. We're going to see oil and gas production," he told a packed hearing on offshore drilling.

The crowd booed a lonely supporter of offshore drilling and waved dollar bills to signify that they thought increased production of oil and gas was a sell-out of environmental policy.

Californians, known for their cars as well as their love of the outdoors, on the whole have been less united.

Last summer, when gasoline prices surged above $4 a gallon and chants of "drill, baby, drill" became a rallying cry at the Republican National Convention, a majority of Californians supported offshore drilling for the first time.

The July poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found 51 percent of Californians favored expanding offshore drilling, up 10 points from a year earlier.

But the poll also found that 52 percent of Californians believe global warming is a serious threat to their state.