That is what Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel thinks. It seems that his energy plan along with the other members of the “Gang of 10″ sounds eerily similar to that of the Nancy Pelosi led House plan (or vise versa) and vulnerable oil state Democrats couldn’t be happier.

That’s because the plan is a Democratic giveaway. New production on offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast — putting off limits some of the most productive areas. Alaska’s oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.

The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on . . . oil companies! The Sierra Club couldn’t have penned it better. And so the Republican Five has potentially given antidrilling Democrats the political cover they need to neutralize energy through November.

Could it be that Thune, unlike many of his own GOP colleagues, realizes that “Drill here, drill now” is just a slogan that will in reality do very little to affect prices at the pump either now or in the future? And how are the rest of his big oil Republican’s buddies going to react to their plan that would raise taxes on oil companies?

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