Earth Equity News

McCain Back Peddles with Increasing Persistence. By Darren Samuelsohn, ClimateWire, February 10, 2010, "Sen. John McCain once led the global warming debate on Capitol Hill, pledging to force repeated floor votes on cap-and-trade legislation until it passed... But McCain has gone on hiatus from the issue since losing the presidential election to Barack Obama. And he is likely to keep his distance even more over the next six months due to a primary challenge from a conservative former congressman that threatens to end his Senate career after four terms... McCain is not the only one-time cap-and-trade supporter facing conservative pressures this election year. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has been distancing himself from past global warming efforts during his Senate primary campaign against former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. And Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) walked away from his vote last June on the House-passed climate bill to help sew up the GOP nomination for Obama's old Senate seat.

"But McCain stands out like few others given his past advocacy for climate legislation, including a brutal GOP presidential primary season in 2007 and 2008 when several more conservative candidates trashed his efforts (Greenwire, Jan. 28, 2008)... Initially, Hayworth had McCain in his sights. A November 2009 telephone poll by Rasmussen had McCain holding a slight 45-43 edge. But a Jan. 20 survey had McCain comfortably ahead of Hayworth, 53-31. The pollsters said their results came just after former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to campaign for her former White House running mate."