"Global"
John McCain makes a play for enviros in a new ad running in unspecified battleground states and on national cable. The spot focuses on McCain's plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The ad doesn't mention, however, that during a speech in Houston today McCain will call for the federal moratorium on offshore drilling to be lifted. News of his announcement brought wide criticism from green groups yesterday ...
League of Conservation Voters president Gene Karpinski:
“Just mentioning the words ‘renewable energy’ doesn’t hide the fact that Senator McCain is now embracing the outdated energy policies of the past. If Senator McCain is serious about ending our addiction to oil and helping working families with inefficient cars, why has he voted against or missed every fuel efficiency bill since 1990? Drilling in protected areas offshore won’t solve our energy needs in the short term and in the long term, will increase the threat of global warming. We need to break our addiction to oil — not look for another fix.”
Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club:
“The truth is that drilling our coasts will not solve our energy problems. Additionally, the federal moratorium exists because one state could jeopardize beaches in neighboring states with risky offshore drilling. An oil spill off the coast of Virginia would impact beaches, marine life, and tourism in New Jersey. More importantly, lifting the ban would do nothing to reduce gas prices for the average American family. It would take a decade to bring new leases into production and then they would only line the coffers of the oil industry, which raked in tens of billions of dollars in record profits last year.
“Oil companies are not even using the nearly 6,000 offshore leases they already own. Issuing new leases is just a license for them to destroy more of our public resources for their own profit, while doing nothing to help ease pain at the pump. Senator McCain has said that he supports fighting global warming and clean energy solutions—more off-shore drilling is antithetical to that approach. To protect consumers and get us on the path to a clean energy future, Senator McCain should instead support the Consumer-First Energy Bill currently in the Senate.”
Brent Blackwelder, Friends of the Earth Action president:
“If John McCain were looking for a way to prove he’s running for George Bush’s third term, he couldn’t do better than this. Maybe we should start calling him ‘Exxon John.’
“More drilling is not the answer to our energy crisis. Fortunately, Barack Obama is focusing on real solutions that are good for the planet and will ease pain at the pump. Obama is talking about fuel-efficient cars, expanded passenger rail, mass transit, and other clean ways of reducing demand for oil that can lighten the burden on Americans’ pocketbooks immediately. That’s the type of leadership we need.” (Friends of the Earth Action has endorsed Barack Obama.)
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
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