The oil leak spreading 5,000 barrels of crude a day in the Gulf of Mexico is reshaping the politics of the energy debate as Congress considers climate policy and lawmakers brace for the November elections. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, withdrew his support for offshore oil drilling Tuesday, following a similar move by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who raised doubts about environmental safety. One official who said the drilling should continue is former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. In 2008, Republicans made expanded offshore oil and gas exploration central to their presidential campaign platform, punctuated by chants of 'drill, baby, drill.' 'This is a really major setback both for climate and, of course, also on energy policy,' Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS-Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview Monday. 'Everything now is obviously on hold.' The leak began after an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and leased by London-based BP. The rig sank two days later and the oil has spread to within five to 10 miles of the Louisiana coast, threatening the region's fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen. BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward met with Obama administration officials Monday to discuss how to manage the spill. Hayward and BP America Chairman Lamar McKay had talks with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, said a White House statement. The government officials requested an update on 'how BP plans to ensure an effective response' in affected Gulf Coast states, according to the statement. 'It was a very constructive dialogue,' Hayward told reporters afterward. Hayward claimed responsibility for the disaster on behalf of BP during an interview Monday on NBC's 'Today' program and vowed to clean up the spill in tandem with the government. Engineers are working to cap the leak. At least three committees -- House Energy and Commerce, House Natural Resources, and Senate Energy and Natural Resources -- plan hearings to investigate the spill during the next month. Obama on March 31 agreed to open new sections of the Atlantic coastline and the eastern Gulf of Mexico to new underwater drilling. Administration officials hoped the move would help win Republican support for a climate bill that has languished in the Senate since passing the House of Representatives last June. The spill now threatens any deal. 'It could have as big an impact as Santa Barbara,' said Philip Verleger, an oil industry expert, referring to the 1969 oil spill off the California coast that reshaped the country's environmental policy and was the catalyst for the first Earth Day in 1970. 'This is a big setback,' he said. The Gulf of Mexico leak solidifies a division in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats on one side who favor more domestic oil and gas exploration, and Democrats who don't. 'To get my vote, any energy or climate bill must prohibit drilling in places where a spill could reach New Jersey's waters,' said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. In one respect, 'it really hastens the debate' over an energy bill,' said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Senate Democrat. On the other hand, the safety of offshore drilling now becomes paramount, he said. 'It's a hard case to make until you get down to the safety issues,' Durbin said. Durbin said he expects the administration to offer new safety standards for offshore drilling. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has been working with Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass. and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., on a bipartisan compromise, cautioned against making too much of the spill. 'We've had problems with car design, but you don't stop driving,' Graham said in Greenville, S.C., on April 30, according to the Greenville News. 'The biggest beneficiaries of this proposal to stop drilling would be overseas oil interests, OPEC and regions that don't like us very much.' Crist, a longtime Republican running for the U.S. Senate as an independent, withdrew his support for offshore drilling during a May 2 interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Palin said the spill shouldn't deter drilling. On her Facebook page Monday, she expressed sympathy over the accident, while saying she still believes in the slogan 'drill here, drill now.' With assistance from Julianna Goldman in Washington, and from Mary Childs and Tom Keene in New York. 