McCain Overlooks Environment, Embraces Big Oil in Accepting GOP Nomination
When John McCain accepted the Republican nomination for president last night [September 4, 2008], he talked about education and the economy, about terrorism and taxes, about knowing who he works for and what he plans to fight for once he becomes president. McCain paid little attention to the environment during his acceptance speech (even though he claims it is one of his top campaign priorities), except for one vague allusion to restoring “the health of our planet” that he offered as a kind of afterthought near the end of the energy independence section. He also skipped any reference to climate change or global warming.
Here is what McCain had to say about the kind of national energy policy he plans to pursue if he is elected in November:
My fellow Americans, when I’m President, we’re going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we’ll drill them now. We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.McCain presents his energy vision as a balanced “all of the above” approach that will use every possible resource—from nuclear energy to renewable energy—to free the United States from dependence on foreign oil. But McCain’s sudden passion for offshore oil drilling is new—as recently as May, McCain was still publicly opposed to offshore drilling—and his enthusiastic call to build 45 new nuclear reactors is in conflict with his sensible concerns about the lack of adequate methods and facilities for nuclear waste disposal.Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet. It’s an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It’s time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.
But on Thursday night, McCain’s new “drill, drill, drill” message drew cheers from the crowd at the Republican National Convention. Although McCain is still officially opposed to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is an enthusiastic advocate for drilling in ANWR, and recently McCain has said that he is willing to reconsider his position. Considering the tone and content of his acceptance speech, it’s quite possible he already has.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Comments
It really saddens me that half of our country is cheering along with this “drill here, drill more, drill now” mentality. I have sincere trouble understanding what is going on, and then I realize that the almighty dollar has taken precedence over the almighty Earth. Tragic!
Lindsay, we see you’re still using your computer, so you must be using electricity , 70% of which is generated by coal, if you’re an American. You apparently think everyone else but you should sacrifice and use energy with more discretion. It’s not Big Oil coveting money, it’s you (and all of us) who still need a car to get to work, to recieve raw materials, to ship our finished products, to get food to market, etc etc. As i’ve pointed out elsewhere, drilling is a short term solution to keep the economy going. (Just the threat of it has already discouraged the speculators and brought prices down.) It actually speeds the ultimate depletion of oil, of course. Our Democrat leadership has unfortunatley painted themselves into a corner by first refusing to allow new drilling for altruistic and unscientific reasons, and they will look like they’ve “waffled” when they finally give in to political and economic necessity.
I read a pretty enlightening book the other day called, “Big Coal” that explains how many of our households are burning coal 24/7. Hard to make the connection just by plugging in the laptop.
I had summarized it a bit while trying to write this post (and added some other snarky comments that guidolamoto could hammer me on later), but everything I wrote was erased when hitting submit. Hmm. Not cool.
So here is the link to the book ;
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Coal-Secret-Behind-Americas/dp/0618319409
http://www.greengroove.org -> Begin Your Phased Withdrawal!
As long as we’re drilling, we’re putting off the real solutions to our energy and economic problems. We gain little by doing it, in the long run, but stand to lose a lot.
Personally, I hope oil prices stay high long enough to have an impact on people’s behaviors and on our policies. When we hit the $4 a gallon mark for gasoline, you started hearing stories about people decreasing their driving, about bicycle shops selling record numbers of bikes, and about commuter trains being packed. I also notice a lot of big SUV’s sitting out in people’s yard with for sale signs on them.
People, unfortunately, won’t change their habits until it hurts too much to stick to old ways. I’ll admit, I’m one of those people. I’m obsessed with turning off lights and appliances in my house now. I plan my errands carefully to save gas.
Once we start drilling in a frenzy like McCain-Palin promise, people will go back to their old ways. We’ll just end up delaying the inevitable. Obama is thinking long-term, and about actually solving our energy problem for good.
You’re missing two points: (a) drilling more doesn’t mean we’re not doing more R&D on alternatives. It’s a matter of short term solutions plus long term solutions, and (b) when an American now saves a gallon of gas due to high prices, an Asian uses it anyways, in his new-found, middle class economic status. No net “savings” of energy. It’s the increased Asian demand for fuel plus the impending depletion of oil that has forced prices up.
Money is not the only important thing in the world. The environment is much more important. It gives us all that we have, and resorces can not possibly last forever.I believe that people have lost sight of this. But my dad said that if the prices continue to rise, then there will be another Depression.So, if the drilling can keep us from spiriling into a Depression, then so be it. I know that I can not change McCain’s oppinion, but atleast I had my say in this…
Much of the demand for fuel is not due to “new-found, middle class economic status” in Asia as some would have you believe, as much as it is the Chinese national pocketbook willing to subsidize the purchase of gas, which keeps prices lower for the Chinese, but higher for those in countries unwilling to follow suit — a free market United States for example. But oil speculators killing the economy aside, the “drill, drill, drill” bandage is more Bread and Circuses to placate the average consumer. Why wouldn’t McCain be for offshore drilling, how much shore does his home state have?
Hurricane Ike was one of the biggest storms to hit the Gulf, ever. It still had enough moisture in it to dump 7 inches of rain on Chicago- our biggest rainfall in 200 years. How much damage did it do to drilling rigs in the Gulf? Any spills of significance reported? Shouldn’t we be more realistic and less dramatic in our worries about potential problems from off-shore wells?