Earth Equity News

McCain's Balancing Act on the Environment. By Juliet Eilperin, WashPost, May 12, 2008. "McCain has made the environment one of the key elements of his presidential bid. He speaks passionately about... climate change... But an examination of McCain's voting record shows an inconsistent approach... He champions some 'green' causes while casting sometimes contradictory votes on others. The senator from Arizona has been resolute in his quest to impose a federal limit on greenhouse gas emissions, even when it means challenging his own party. But he has also cast votes against tightening fuel-efficiency standards and resisted requiring public utilities to offer a specific amount of electricity from renewable sources. He has worked to protect public lands in his home state... But he has also pushed to set aside Endangered Species Act protections when they conflict with other priorities, such as the construction of a University of Arizona observatory on Mount Graham... 'Look, he always balances what are the environmental implications of these enterprises and what are the economic benefits that could come from them,' [McCain's senior policy adviser Doug] Holtz-Eakin said. 'That is, in general, an approach which may be harder to read than a flat ideological X or Y, but it's how he reads these things.'"