The cowardly lion

McCain to skip another crucial climate vote 4

Unbelievable. Sen. John McCain -- who just weeks ago said of the Climate Security Act, "I hope it will pass, and I hope the entire Congress will join in supporting it and the President of the United States would sign it" -- now says he won't show up to vote on it.

He won't vote against it, mind you. Won't go on record. Won't take a stand. He just won't show.

"I have not been there for a number of votes. The same thing happened in the campaign of 2000," he said. "The people of Arizona understand I'm running for president."

Pardon my French, but that's just chickenshit. Not to mention bullshit: in a crucial vote earlier this Congressional session that would have transferred oil company subsidies to renewable energy, McCain was actually in D.C. -- he sat on his plane while the vote was taken. (The measure failed by one vote.)

He won't support concrete proposals to reduce greenhouse gases or boost renewable energy, but he's too cowardly to go on record voting against them, since it might put the lie to all his lofty maverick rhetoric on climate.

You think Republicans for Environmental Protection will give him a pass on this one too?

And while I'm ranting: The reason McCain opposes Lieberman-Warner is that it doesn't contain sufficient pork for the nuclear industry. But when he's in Nevada, pandering to Nevada voters who hate the idea of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, he tells a different story. Heck, we might not even need Yucca, he says!

This is a guy who wants the U.S. to build on the order of 700 new nuclear plants, telling Nevada voters that we won't need a place to store all the waste.

How on earth did this guy get a reputation as a straight talker? Can you imagine this kind of evasion and double-talk being accepted from any other national candidate?

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

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  1. Tasermons Partner Posted 7:18 am
    29 May 2008

    One wonders......what'll happen if, elected as president, he has to deal with a Congress comprised mostly of Democrats?
    If he got this bill then, would he sign it, or veto it?
    ...well, guess the only way to make sure is elect enough ecos to Congress to get a veto-proof majority.
  2. KenG Posted 1:29 pm
    29 May 2008

    Missing VotesWhy do we let our legislators take time off work to run for office? I just checked the Senate voting records. Yes, McCain is number one in missed votes, Obama is number 3 and Clinton is number 5. Of the others in the top 5, Tim Johnson has a good excuse - he had a brain hemmorhage. Biden came in at number 4 but I've thought he was retired in place for years. maybe it's the huge distance he has to travel to get home.
  3. David Jenkins's avatar

    David Jenkins Posted 3:37 am
    30 May 2008

    Partisan Jab UnwarrantedRepublicans for Environmental Protection (REP) is a soild green group that does not give their fellow Republicans a "pass." You fail to mention that REP routinely gives zeros on its scorecard to Republicans who earn it. Senator Bond received a zero and Senator Inhofe got a -4 (which is lower than his LCV score).
    There are plenty of green Republicans out here that beleive good stewardship is a consevative value that too many have lost sight of.
    By showing his partisan colors, Mr. Robert's does the environmental movement a disservice.Where is his coverage of Senator Clinton's remarks today in favor of thinning old growth forests, or Senator Obama's praise of coal?
  4. davedenali Posted 4:49 am
    30 May 2008

    to "Partisan Jab Unwarranted" re McCainRubbish. Senator McCain has a career LCV score of 26 percent.  That is CAREER score.  Dozens and dozens of votes.  Consistently over his career.  Look up Senator McCain's votes on LCV-scored issues over the years (http://www.lcv.org) and tell me he has a good environmental record -- without cracking up.  Yes he's right some of the time.  He's wrong more than not, and he's not fit to be President.

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