Earth Equity News

McCain and Obama Would Pursue Similar Energy and Environment Goals Very Differently. By Stephen Power, WSJ, June 9, 2008, subscription. "John McCain and Barack Obama say a lot of the same things about energy and environmental policy... [but that doesn't] mean America will get the same energy strategy no matter which candidate wins... Not by a long shot... For example, while Sen. McCain says he favors an effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, his voting record shows a reluctance to support mandates [and] tax credits... [He] has long called for scrapping the federal ethanol tax credit... [and has] voted against requiring electric utilities to boost their use of renewable energy sources, preferring to let cities and states set their own targets... [He has] expressed reluctance to support government incentives such as tax credits for wind and solar... [while] Sen. Obama... [is] promising to invest $150 billion over the next decade in alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol... [and would] push a requirement that the U.S. by 2025 get at least 25% of its electricity from renewable sources... Sen. Obama is also framing the climate-change debate in more explicit language than Sen. McCain. 'We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees at all times and then just expect that every other country's going to say OK. That's not -- that's not leadership'... Both... have their share of inconsistencies and hedges. Last year, Sen. Obama, whose home state of Illinois is a big coal producer, co-sponsored legislation that would subsidize facilities that make liquid fuel from coal, even though the EPA has found liquid coal contains twice the global-warming pollution of conventional gasoline... After environmentalists protested, [he] said he'd support subsidies for the technology only if the resulting fuel emitted 20% less CO2 than conventional fuels. On nuclear power, Sen. Obama says he's open to expanding [it]... [but] opposes the Bush administration's plan for storing waste at Yucca Mountain... [while Sen. McCain has expressed support for Yucca Mountain... Sen. [McCain] seeks a 60% reduction from 1990 CO2 levels by [2050], compared with Sen. Obama's more aggressive 80% reduction, which is backed by many scientists. Sen. McCain also supports a temporary suspension of the federal gasoline tax, a move that Sen. Obama opposes."