Republican presidential candidate John McCain's acceptance speech in St. Paul this evening had plenty of references to the nation's energy concerns, calling for drilling here and now, as well as nuclear, "clean coal," and renewables. There was not, however, a single mention of climate change, an issue he has in the past led his party in discussing.
On the energy issue, he pledged to "embark on the most ambitious national project in decades" in pursuit of energy independence, and "stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much."
"We will attack the problem on every front," said McCain. "We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now."
The crowd, at this point, erupted into thunderous applause, with some chanting, "USA, USA." While the crowd loved this line, for McCain this is a relatively new position, as until this summer he opposed drilling on the outer continental shelf.
"We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology," he continued. "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."
He pledged that his plan would create millions of new jobs, "many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity -- jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce." He praised his running mate Sarah Palin for taking on "tough problems like energy independence and corruption."
"Sen. Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power," he continued. "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."
McCain also attempted to make an issue of Obama's vote on the 2005 energy bill: "We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption ... We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Sen. Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles."
The 2005 energy bill was a sweeping, oil-friendly piece of legislation that enviros largely opposed. Obama voted for it, citing its support for ethanol and "clean coal" technology. McCain voted against the bill, saying that he thought it would raise gas prices in his home state, that it mandated too much ethanol use, and that its tax incentives for people who buy alternative-fuel vehicles were too generous. According to FactCheck.org, the bill actually "resulted in a small net tax increase on oil companies." And on the campaign trail this year, McCain has espoused policies that would perpetuate subsidies for Big Oil.
But in his speech tonight, McCain said that the next president needs to "change the way government does almost everything."
"From the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children," he said. "All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution, and the end of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington."
As the candidate wrapped up his speech, the song "Raising McCain," written specially for the candidate by singer John Rich, started blaring, and hundreds of red, white, and blue balloons were dumped from the rafters.
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Comments
View as Flat
Delay And Deny Posted 2:14 pm
04 Sep 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/04/usele ...
Over the past few weeks, the Obama campaign has refused to answer questions about Obama's support for the federal ethanol mandates, and the candidate's website has been purged of his old energy platform, which included several lines about his plans to increase ethanol production in the US.
But try as they might, neither Obama nor his running mate, Joe Biden, can shake the smell of corn alcohol. And that may provide an opening for Obama's opponent, John McCain, who has long been one of the Senate's loudest ethanol critics. McCain briefly switched sides on ethanol in the months prior to the Iowa caucuses. But he is now one of a dozen Republican senators who are pushing a bill would freeze the volume of corn ethanol to be blended into gasoline at no more than 9 billion gallons per year.
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amazingdrx Posted 2:52 pm
04 Sep 2008
Here's the important part that really highlights democratic values. The personal part about his torture. The part right from his heart, that no speech writer could fake.
"When I didn't get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life."
"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's."
This is what makes soldiers fight, they are fighting for the person next to them. This is what makes union members fight on the picket line. This is the altruism democrats start out with.
This is why McCain had great respect from the left before he sided with the selfish policies of the bush administration. You can tell he is sincere. So why has he been sucked into the policies that do just the opposite.
Bush policies, that McCain voted for 95% of the time, put the wealthy and huge corporations way up on top financially, cutting their taxes, and push the poor amd middle class down, saying raise yourselves up on your own. We can't help.
Just the opposite of the lesson McCain expresses so eloquently.
Fighting the wars that McCain hates (I believe him) for all the wrong reasons, oil and corporate profit, based on lies. Employing kidnapping, torture, murder, and indefinite incarceration without trial as an official state policy. Canceling the very heart of our legal rights, habeus corpus itself.
Using others self sacrificing patriotism for cynical corporate empire. 100s of thousands of lives lost for lies and profit. And McCain has supported it all the way.
He is a great man, no doubt. But his judgement does not match the wisdom he obviously has received at great personal sacrifice for the country he loves, and as Obama says, the country we all love.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin
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GreyFlcn Posted 3:23 pm
04 Sep 2008
-David Ahlport
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mreinbold Posted 4:04 pm
04 Sep 2008
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Bob Wallace Posted 1:39 am
05 Sep 2008
You should vote for him. He's smart.
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mreinbold Posted 1:43 am
05 Sep 2008
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mreinbold Posted 1:52 am
05 Sep 2008
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amazingdrx Posted 1:57 am
05 Sep 2008
Or a guy who needs Lieberman to whisper in his ear the most basic facts about foreign policy. Will Lieberman "translate" for McCain in meetings with the chinese, russians, and indians?
Obama is a real world class leader, powered by a mind and heart that propelled him all the way to the top, with constant hard work. No "born with a silver foot in his mouth" upbringing for Obama.
No Admiral father and grandfather getting him through the naval academy despite his screwup attitude.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin
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Green Granny Posted 2:38 am
05 Sep 2008
She is a far right evangelical Christian whose been believes the war in Iraq is "holy", who tried to fire a librarian who was unwilling to remove "objectionable" books from the town library. Palin believes creationism should be taught in schools along with "abstinence only" sex education. Ms. Palin does not represent most feminists.
Women's lib will lose much ground with a VP like her.
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Ghandi
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mreinbold Posted 2:59 am
05 Sep 2008
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mreinbold Posted 3:09 am
05 Sep 2008
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Dragon Posted 3:47 am
05 Sep 2008
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hapa Posted 4:17 am
05 Sep 2008
people don't say to themselves, when they read them, "this is radical. this is refreshing." they say, "it's not quite what i wanted but it's better than bush and i guess this is what it takes to get elected."
not "left."
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Spearhead Posted 4:19 am
05 Sep 2008
It's a shame we lost such a good right-wing environmentalist in the game of presidential elections.
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mreinbold Posted 5:25 am
05 Sep 2008
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mreinbold Posted 5:31 am
05 Sep 2008
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usandthem Posted 10:59 pm
05 Sep 2008
Right on green granny.Palin is just a pretty face with a petty attitude.She is for everything that bush has wanted.McCain is a hollow shell of a man.He was a screw-up in the academy and in flight training and that is why he got shot down in vietnam.
Why not ask why!?
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mreinbold Posted 12:41 am
06 Sep 2008
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Zephaniah Posted 6:54 pm
07 Sep 2008
George Lakoff's book, Don't Think of an Elephant is a great book for helping turn your concerns into effective dialogue.
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