Would John McCain Be Good For The Environment?
Would John McCain Be Good For The Environment? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)
Does John McCain really care about the environment? Or, is it more McCain double-talk, masquerading as McCain straight-talk?
See what the press and the pundits are saying about McCain’s environmental policy. And let me know what you think in comments?
From Media Matters…
Summary: Reuters reported that Sen. John McCain would pledge “to take the lead in combating global climate change if elected president in a speech that set him apart from the policies of U.S. President George W. Bush.” However, in reporting on McCain’s environmental positions that his campaign believes will “win support from independents and centrist Democrats,” Reuters did not mention his voting record and did not include any criticism of McCain’s positions. By contrast, The Washington Post noted that “McCain’s lifetime League of Conservation Voters score is 24 percent, compared with 86 for Obama and 86 for Clinton.” — read full Media Matters article
From The CarpetBagger Report…
When pressed on his differences with George W. Bush, John McCain now relies on a three-prong answer: McCain is more committed to cutting spending than Bush has been, McCain disapproved of the Rumsfeld strategy, and McCain cares more about the environment.
All three struggle under scrutiny. McCain talks about spending, but comes up short when pushed for specifics. He criticizes Rumsfeld years later, but while Rumsfeld was failing, McCain was urging Americans to “stay the course.”
And then there’s environmental policy, which McCain is emphasizing heavily this week as a way of making him appear more moderate, helping him with independents, and distancing himself from the far-right wing of his own party.
. . .
It all sounds very nice, just so long as you don’t look past the surface.
If we’re judging McCain on a sliding Republican scale, then sure, he’s not quite as reckless and irresponsible on environmental issues than some of his fellow conservatives. He believes global warming is real and he doesn’t believe trees cause pollution. If the soft bigotry of low expectations means anything, McCain looks pretty good in comparison to, say, James Inhofe.
But part of the problem is that McCain’s commitment to sensible environmental policies is a bit like the weather in Chicago: if you don’t like it, wait a few minutes, because it’s bound to change.
This is from Red, Green, and Blue…
McCain’s stance on climate change is out-of-step with many Republicans. Some of those Republicans, including President Bush, suggest governmental efforts to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, like those found in a ‘cap-and-trade,’ will cripple our economy; while other Republicans challenge the validity of global warming and climate change altogether.
As part of McCain’s PR push, his campaign just released a new television ad. I was surprised to find out that the ad’s tone is much more apocalyptic than I would have expected. And I was also struck by the claims in the ad that somehow McCain’s proposed cap and trade policy would somehow circumnavigate regulatory involvement, when that is not the case at all - McCain’s plan will just delay that regulatory involvement.
From Framing Science…
While McCain’s commitment to climate change policy is welcome, the advertisement’s false balancing of climate change denial against the type of tough measures we need to solve the problem is deceptive and self-serving. That’s also the lesson from a front page lead story today at the Washington Post by Juliet Eilperin.
Also See:
Press Release by The League of Conservation Voters…
