It wasn’t that McCain voted against environmental protections in the 15 key votes that the LCV used to compile its annual congressional scorecard; he just didn’t bother to show up at all.
McCain Alone in Missing Every Key Environmental Vote
Absenteeism from their regular jobs is an occupational hazard for presidential candidates—U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each missed four of the 15 key environmental votes in 2007 due to campaign demands—but McCain is the only Member of Congress who skipped every environmental vote on the LCV list. And that includes two House members who died in office and a senator who was absent most of the year due to a life-threatening illness, all of whom earned higher scores than McCain.
Comparing Presidential Candidates’ Environmental Voting Records
By contrast to McCain, Clinton earned a score of 73 (out of a possible 100) from the League of Conservation Voters in 2007 and Obama scored 67. The average score for Members of Congress in 2007 was 53.
Comparing the overall voting records of the three presidential candidates, Clinton’s lifetime score from the LCV is 87, Obama’s is nearly the same at 86, and McCain’s is a distant 24.
McCain Failed Constituents by Missing Votes on the Environment
Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, said that McCain missed votes that would have saved his constituents $499 million dollars at the pump and at least $550 million on their energy bills, while creating more than 10,000 new clean energy jobs in his home state.
"Out of 535 Members of Congress, John McCain is the only one who chose to miss every single key environmental vote scored by the League of Conservation Voters last year. When it came time to stand up and vote for the environment, John McCain was nowhere to be found,” Pope said in a statement.
"Every other Member who received a zero from LCV last year at least had the temerity to show up and vote against the environment and clean energy time after time,” Pope added. “And unlike John McCain, I doubt any of them would claim to be environmental leaders or champions on global warming."
Environmental and Legislative Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Judging from his campaign speeches and the position papers posted on his campaign Web site, McCain does consider himself an environmental leader and champion. Given McCain’s failure to show up for any of the Senate’s most important environmental votes in 2007, however, some of his campaign rhetoric has a decidedly ironic twist.
“John McCain has a proud record of common sense stewardship,” according to McCain’s campaign Web site. “Along with his commitment to clean air and water, and to conserving open space, he has been a leader on the issue of global warming with the courage to call the nation to action on an issue we can no longer afford to ignore.
“As John McCain said, ‘Americans solve problems. We don't run from them.’ He believes that ignoring the problem reflects a ‘liberal live for today’ attitude unworthy of our great country, and poses a serious and unacceptable threat to our environment, our economy, and U.S. national security.”
Why the Environmental Votes on the LCV Congressional Scorecard Matter
Pope said the votes chosen by LCV for the congressional scorecard represent “the most important votes on the most pressing environmental matters facing us today: energy, global warming, clean water, stewardship of our public lands, and other crucial issues.”
“Republicans and Democrats alike in both chambers received perfect scores of 100 this year, proof that being green isn’t a question of red or blue,” Pope said. "John McCain’s LCV score exposes the real record behind the rhetoric: a lifetime pattern of voting with polluters and special interests instead of consumers and the planet when it comes time to stand up and be counted. Or perhaps worse yet: a consistent refusal to stand up and be counted at all.”
Summing Up: John McCain and the Environment
At one of his campaign stops, McCain said: "Of course we want renewable energy. Of course we want better standards. I want to do everything I can to see that wind, solar, hydrogen, ethanol ... and all of these, including nuclear power, [are put to better use]."
Well, for a guy who wants to do everything he can, McCain didn’t do much in 2007. One of the most important things a senator can do on any key issue is to vote on legislation that will create positive change—and that’s where McCain fell short.
When it comes to environmental leadership, good intentions aren’t enough. It’s time for Senator McCain to stop just taking positions, and take a stand.
Review the Key Environmental Votes of 2007
Here are the 15 Senate votes included in the League of Conservation Voters 2007 National Environmental Scorecard and missed by U.S. Sen. John McCain:
- Cloture on H.R. 6, the energy bill (6/21, Vote 225)
- Passage of H.R. 6, the energy bill (6/21, Vote 226)
- Maintaining Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) in H.R. 6 (12/7, Vote 416)
- Taking away giveaways to Big Oil to subsidize clean energy (12/13, Vote 425)
- Loosening public health and environmental regulations on refineries (6/13, Vote 210)
- Undermining the RES with coal and nuclear energy (6/14, Vote 211)
- Offshore drilling in Virginia (6/14, Vote 212)
- Liquid coal (6/19, Vote 213)
- Environmental safeguards for biofuels (6/20, 219)
- Consider global warming for water projects (5/15, Vote 166)
- Appropriately prioritizing water projects (5/15, Vote 165)
- International family planning (9/6, Vote 320)
- Farm Bill subsidy reform (12/11, Vote 417)
- Farm Bill subsidy caps (12/13, Vote 424)
- Eminent Domain for public parks (12/3, Vote 429)
