John McCain
I will clean up the planet. I will make global warming a priority.
That was McCain speaking before the New Hampshire primary. The anti-McCain pundits of the right ate it up like hot fudge. Fodder for their hatred. McCain = Al Gore's ideological twin.
Um, no.
When McCain invokes climate rhetoric it's political opportunism. Period. Like in New Hampshire -- a state filled with Independents who rank global warming high on their list of concerns.
Unfortunate truth (lost on his GOP enemies): John McCain is not a major champion of climate change solutions.
Not anymore. Not even close. The times they have changed. And so, apparently, has McCain.
in 2003, McCain introduced the US Senate's first cap-and-trade bill, the McCain-Liebeman Stewardship Act. It earned him props from green groups. Even an endorsement from LCV in 2004 after he had racked up a horrible lifetime score of 26 percent. He was the bright CFL light in a room full of antiquated coal-fired plants.
No longer.
In the last three months, McCain has demonstrated to the nation that he's a no-show on climate change. Literally.
In a crucial vote in December 2007 on the energy bill, he failed to show up. He was the deciding vote. The result of his absence? The defeat of the clean energy package. Meanwhile, Senators Obama and Clinton managed to be there.
On February 6, 2008, McCain did it again. He was a glaring no-show for the vote on the Senate stimulus bill that would have included clean energy incentives to boost America's renewables biz. The bill was one vote shy of passing.
McCain's vote.
Worse yet: McCain was in Washington at the time. He chose to skip the vote. "Too busy, focused on other stuff." The other stuff was a meeting at CPAC. Conservative Political Action Conference. The right-wing group of GOP members, says the WSJ, who will "make or break" his presidential aspirations.
So much for our maverick McCain.
He also backtracked on his support for a mandatory cap on emissions, oddly. And his constant mention of nuclear power as a speedy fix reeks of pandering to the right.
Now that Romney's out of the picture, McCain's the clear front-runner -- and #1 flip-flopper.
In three months on the campaign trail, he has screwed over clean energy at least twice. Are you sure you're ready to give him the golden seat for four whole years?
