Obama v.s. McCain on global warming cred..does it really matter who is more green

We are in a highly political year with St. Louis election officials preparing for the largest voter turnout in recent memory. Some such as Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan are estimating that we will see an 80% turn out (Clevenger pg 2). What does this mean for the issue of climate change? While it doesn't rate as a top issue on the minds of voters the candidates seem to believe global climate change and energy policy is a key topic in getting those increasing number of voters to turn out for them. In fact both candidates have endorsed greenhouse emission cutbacks both here in the United States and abroad, issues that the Bush administration has largely ignored over its eight years in office (Blackstone pg 1). This change in attitude of our leading politicians points to an increased sense of urgency among an increasingly vocal segment of the population. Much of which may be caused by the success of Al Gore's campaign on the issue, as well as that of leading figures in entertainment, and the world community such as Kofi Annan, and Nelson Mandela (Reuters 2007) Regardless of the cause of this spike in interest, the question of who is best to lead the United States in reform around this issue bears pertinence and requires further analysis. So who will history show to be the better candidate to enact sweeping policy change on the issue of Global warming? The answer depends on a variety of factors from having the adequate political capital to a president’s relationship with congress, but the one which is most relevant to an election season may be that of political will. In other words who has the record to match the tough talk on the campaign trail? By looking at our candidates records we will achieve clarity into what should be the true focus of voters, and that is not who wants to change the environment, but who can and how.
John McCain claims to be a maverick of the Republican Party, but as his critics are always quick to point out more times than not he doesn’t rock the boat. This does not seem to be the case on the issue of global warming, as in 2000 following a tough defeat to George W. Bush in the Republican primary John McCain went back to the Senate and held hearings in the commerce committee on the issue of global warming, after which he drafted a bill with then Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman which was the first vote in the Senate on the issue of Global Warming. The bill failed to pass due to the perceived weakness of some of its proposals (McKibbin, 2004). This is where some in the environmental community criticize McCain saying "While McCain may understand the scale of the climate problem, he does not appear to understand the scale of the solution" (Romm 2008). To further this argument McCain voted against the Energy Policy Act of 2006 saying "the American public is going to be saddled entirely with the expense of this bill, which is running on empty--empty of new ideas--and further running up our deficit"(McCain 2005). While McCain does seem unwilling at times to expend significant federal dollars he has continued his fight to make global warming a priority, one of the only Republicans to do so.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama is from a party, who is seen as friendly to environmentalists, and he has been a vocal supporter of action on global warming from the campaign trail, but what does his record reveal? One of his first votes in the Senate in 2005 was actually a Yes vote on the Lieberman/McCain Energy Bill beginning his tenure as a pro-environment senator. From that point on according to the Matter Network Obama went on to vote in favor of clean energy 23 out of 24 times. However, by 2005 Global Warming was a large Democratic issue prior to this in his service as a Illinois State Senator his record was not as clear voting along with many against the Kyoto protocol claiming it “did not have "meaningful and achievable emissions targets," and that Obama "did not believe that state agencies in Illinois should unilaterally take steps to implement a global policy on their own …". In addition, he voted several times to use public funds to aid the coal industry which is so vital to the economy of southern Illinois (Dilanian, 2008).

So what can we conclude from our political candidates and their records. It would seem the historic split between Republican and Democrat and between Business and Environmentalist on this issue has softened as both of our presidential candidates stand right in line with each other despite the claims of constant TV ads. Even the Bush administration and corporate leaders that once decried global warming as a nonissue are taking heed (Brown 2007). More than this however perhaps what voters should be considering in this election season should not be on who does and who does not want to defend the environment as political attack ads seem to focus, but rather who can, and how.



Works Cited

Blackstone, John. "Obama and McCain on Climate Change." CBS News 23 Sep 2008 1-4. 25
Sep 2008 .

Clevenger, Donna. "Voter Turnout Expected to Spike." Branson Daily News 25 Sep 2008 1-2.
25 Sep 2008 .

Dilanian, Ken. "Obama shifts stance on enviromental issues." USA Today 18 Jul 2008 1-3. 25
Sep 2008 .

Doyle, Alister. "Gore, Winfrey, Annan seen as climate leaders-poll." Reuters 02 Jul 2007 1-2. 25
Sep 2008 .

McCain, John. "Energy Policy Act of 2005 Speech." United States Senate, Washington D.C. .
06/28.2005.

McKibben, Bill. "McCains Lonely War on Global Warming." Alternet 01 Apr 2004 1-5. 25 Sep
2008 .

"Obama's Clean Energy Voting Record." Matter Network 18 Sep 2008 1-4. 25 Sep 2008
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