Oh, the irony. John McCain and his handlers are working (but not too hard) at making him look somewhat progressive on climate change to independent and thus far uncommitted voters. They’re trying to maintain a balance between pleasing the hard line conservative base and appealing to young people hip to the global warming crisis and the need for alternative energy. Too bad the setting they chose for his climate change speech only underlined the fact that he’s not the candidate that will actually do anything about it.
Gristmill has it:
Conservative presidential candidate Sen. John McCain chose a clever but ultimately hypocritical location for his big climate speech. I hope the media aren’t fooled by his ironic choice of wind turbine company Vestas as the backdrop, but I have little doubt they will run enticing photos and videos of wind turbines. McCain, however, does not deserve to be linked to such images.
I would title the speech “Not the man for the job” (see “No climate for old men”).
Let’s be clear: Conservatives like John McCain, or more accurately, conservatives including John McCain, are the main reason McCain has to go to a Danish wind turbine manufacturer to give a climate speech. With the major government investments in wind in the 1970s, the United States was poised to be a dominant player in what was clearly going to be one of the biggest job-creating industries of the next hundred years. But conservatives repeatedly gutted the wind budget, then opposed efforts by progressives to increase it, and repeatedly blocked efforts to extend the wind power tax credit.
Mr. McCain, you’re making this too easy. As Gristmill points out, you didn’t even show up for the vote that would have extended the wind power production tax credit, which would have shifted money from subsidies away from the oil industry. You’ve also opposed, on more than one occasion, a renewable electricity standard that would have set a minimum requirement for utilities to generate some of their power from alternative sources, including wind. These examples are just a small fraction of your record. Tsk, tsk. Try harder next time, old man.
Link [Gristmill]
Photo credit: Flickr user marcn
