Earth Equity News

Don't Be Fooled by Windmills in the McCain Photo-Op Yesterday. Posted by Joseph Romm, Grist, May 12, 2008. "Conservatives like John McCain... are the main reason [he] has to go to a Danish wind turbine manufacturer to give a climate speech. With the major government investments in wind in the 1970s, the U.S. was poised to be a dominant player in [the industry]... But conservatives repeatedly gutted the wind budget, then opposed efforts by progressives to increase it, and repeatedly blocked efforts to extend the wind power tax credit... The U.S. is now a bit player in an industry we launched (we had 90% of global installed capacity in the mid-1980s) -- thanks to conservatives, including McCain. In December, McCain himself failed to show up for a key vote that would have extended the wind power production tax credit, which has been a key driver of wind power in this country... McCain's vote could have broken the conservative filibuster blocking the effort to support renewables... but his spokesperson said that 'he would not have supported breaking the filibuster.' This was but one recent example of a series of missed votes or anti-renewable votes McCain has cast in recent years."