Unlike U.S. President George W. Bush, considered one of the worst presidents for the environment in the modern era, both frontrunners for America’s presidential seat have listened to their advisers and are paying attention to what’s important to Americans today. Global warming is on the agenda.
Both Sen. Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Sen. John McCain, a Republican, have action plans to fight global warming in their campaigns. (We’ve written about the Democrat’s plan earlier on Carbon Catalog). We’re curious as to how these plans might differ and what that might mean for America’s – possibly the world’s – future.
Republicans 60: Democrats 80
John McCain has said in a speech that he would cut America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by the year 2050 through a cap-and-trade system. How he would do that, The Daily Green points out, is not much different from Barack Obama’s strategy. The difference is target: Choosing a goal suggested by the United Nations, the Democrats say they would aim 20% higher than McCain to an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
The Democrats, who we’ve featured here, say that every carbon credit in the system would be auctioned to the highest bidder, meaning the credits could be bought and retired by green organizations, businesses and individuals who would like to keep as much carbon out of the atmosphere as possible.
The Republicans on the other hand, would give most of the carbon credits from the cap-and-trade system to the polluters, such as nasty coal-fired power plants, to trade amongst themselves. McCain, we should point out, is in favor of promoting nuclear energy. And on the whole, environmentalists from the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation are not impressed with McCain.
The League Gives McCain a Big Zero, So Does Sierra Club
Earlier this year, McCain scored a zero out of 100 on the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Scorecard, a group which gives ratings on their votes in the most recent Congress. Having skipped all 15 votes that the League considered as critical measures for protecting the environment, McCain says Sierra Club director Carl Pope, was nowhere to be found:
“Out of 535 Members of Congress, John McCain is the only one who chose to miss every single key environmental vote scored by the League of Conservation Voters last year. When it came time to stand up and vote for the environment, John McCain was nowhere to be found,” said Pope. (Hillary Clinton scored a 73% and Barack Obama scored a 67%).
“Every other Member who received a zero from LCV last year at least had the temerity to show up and vote against the environment and clean energy time after time. And unlike John McCain, I doubt any of them would claim to be environmental leaders or champions on global warming.
“While Senator McCain deserves credit for his work on early global warming legislation in the Senate and for bringing attention to the need for urgent action, his plan is driven by yesterday’s solutions and they won’t solve tomorrow’s problems. The science on global warming has changed dramatically over the last five years and Senator McCain’s proposals are outdated and fail to provide the big changes Americans are demanding.
“Like President Bush, McCain’s policies on global warming offer more of the same, by putting the interests of polluters over the people and failing to invest in building a clean energy economy that will create new jobs and opportunities at a time when an economic boost is sorely needed. Americans want real change – investment in clean, renewable energy instead of Big Oil, Nuclear power and other polluting industries. We need more windmills not windfalls. Unfortunately Senator McCain’s plan is designed to fail.”
Work on Climate Stewardship Act
Unlike the Sierra Club critics, McCain is supported by Republican environmentalists (see Republicans for Environmental Protection), because he was the only presidential candidate talking about environmental issues already back in 2003, when he and Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced to the Senate the first-ever climate bill, the Climate Stewardship Act, to establish a carbon cap-and-trade system that would reduce U.S. emissions.
Since then, look what McCain has been up against: the bill has been introduced and shot down by Congress twice (in 2003 and again later in 2005). He’s also stood up against issues such as drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and has frequently criticized the Bush administration for inaction. Is this enough though to prove McCain can take real action against climate change?
According to Grist, McCain acknowledges, “without hedging,” that man-made climate change is real, and that he speaks eloquently about the need to address it.
These aren’t chopped liver. All were acts of courage undertaken in a time of Republican majority, when they offered little political reward (other than the undying love of cable news talk-show hosts). The second, in particular, was a beacon of hope for greens in a time when there were very few.
Later, the same Grist writer comes to conclusion however that McCain’s climate change commitment is outdated and “inadequate.”
Walking a Fine Line
Supporters of McCain say that his work to earn the Republican nomination has kept him from participating on the Senate floor, but that’s okay because he’ll fight against global warming when he’s elected.
They could have a point. As a Republican with conservative and ultra-conservative followers, McCain does have to walk a fine line. He has to appease supporters who are both climate change deniers (these are the same people who will call global warming a cult), and the ones from the Old Boys club who have stakes in Big Oil and traditional polluting industries.
We think it would be wise to vote for a president who will make solar, wind, geothermal and any new clean technologies a reality within the next 5 to 10 years. (Alternet sees the shortcomings of both presidential candidates in this area.)
Don’t wait for a president to do the job for you –– if you are interested in supporting clean technology projects, see our directory on Carbon Catalog, where we break down carbon offset projects depending on type.
See McCain’s advert on Global Warming: