Man in the Middle

McCain calls for offshore drilling, renewables, and conservation in energy speech

Posted at 9:27 PM on 17 Jun 2008

Republican presidential candidate John McCain tried to pack something for everyone into a big energy speech yesterday, saying the U.S. needs more conservation and renewables as well as more oil drilling, oil refineries, "clean-burning coal," and nuclear power plants. He called for ending a federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling, but reiterated his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He criticized Barack Obama for not supporting domestic oil production and a suspension of the gas tax, and he also took swipes at the Bush-Cheney energy policy. "In the face of climate change and other serious challenges, energy conservation is no longer just a moral luxury or a personal virtue," McCain said. "Conservation serves a critical national goal." Also yesterday, McCain released a new climate-focused ad that aims to distance the candidate from Bush; in it, the narrator says, "John McCain stood up to the president and sounded the alarm on global warming, five years ago. Today, he has a realistic plan that will curb greenhouse-gas emissions."

new in Muckraker: McCain delivers climate address
new in Muckraker: McCain releases new climate ad
also, in Gristmill: The scoop on McCain's climate plan

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Comments: (3 comments)

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"No longer" or "never was"?

If Grampa MyCane really wanted to take a swipe at Bush/Cheney, he wouldn't have said that conservation is "no longer just a moral luxury or a personal virtue", he would have said that it "never was a moral luxury or a personal virtue."

by rraimo at 5:14 AM on 18 Jun 2008

those smiles!

Not that anyone should vote on this basis, but it is noteworthy all the same:

Obama steps up to the podium in front of thousands of people, wearing a happy expression but not yet breaking apart his lips to show his teeth; and then, the right moment comes, and he gives a real smile, his teeth resplendent: and the entire auditorium is bathed in a euphoric brilliance, and joy fills every heart;
McCain, on the other hand, maintains a dyspeptic scowl -- to show how serious and experienced and un-naive he is -- , until, again at what is judged the "right moment," usually a second or two or three after he has pronounced a sentence, his handlers press a buzzer off stage, an instrument inserted into the side of his throat emits an electric shock, and he opens up with a tyrannosaurian lear, which strikes horror in all who behold it.

Anyway ...

No less horrifying is how Governor Crist and Senator Menendez of Florida have flip-flopped, regarding off-shore drilling.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 8:30 AM on 18 Jun 2008

buddies

McCain has been shown way too many times embracing bush and has supported this president in all his many attempts to undermine the constitution and put undue burdens on the working class of this country.McCain is a phony.I do believe that at one time he was an american hero,but those days are well past.Now all he wants is to get elected so that he can continue bushs take over of this country and perpetuate war.Yes,I know that he has family in the armed services,so what!
He is for "clean coal".There is no such thing at this time and coal mining in this country is tremendously detremental to the environment and to people.He is for building nuclear energy power plants.I am not until we can find a way to dispose of the waste in a manner that is not harmful to the environment and to people.John McCain is willing to SAY anything to get elected,then watch out.WE the people will pay such a horrendous price that we will not recover and neither will the country and maybe the world.I have to admit that I am not a fan of Obama's ,but anything is better than McCain.I wish that I could vote for some one who cared,but I don't know who that would be.

Why not ask why!?

by usandthem at 8:08 AM on 19 Jun 2008

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