The Candidates on the Environment
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John McCain | McCain opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge unless it can be done in an environmentally safe manner. However, he supports lifting a ban on offshore drilling in light of recent oil price increases. During the 2008 New Hampshire primary, McCain announced that he would "clean up the planet" and "make global warming a priority." As a U.S. senator, McCain has worked closely with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) on legislation designed to reduce greenhouse emissions through a market-based system and through the development of nuclear, solar and other alternative energy sources. He pledged to toughen automotive fuel standards and says he will use diplomacy to convince India and China to address the threats of global warming. However, he insists that U.S. energy policy must not impose "unsustainable costs on the economy." McCain supports federal funding and preservation of national parks, arguing that Americans should take "stewardship" of their "natural heritage." He also commends environmentally conscious evangelicals for sharing "a biblical obligation to care for our planet." |
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Barack Obama | Obama opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge "because it would irreversibly damage a protected national wildlife refuge without creating sufficient oil supplies to meaningfully affect the global market price," but has said he would consider using offshore drilling as part of a "comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices." He says that religion can encourage people to make sacrifices, and he hopes to rally other countries around the "importance of us being good stewards of the land." In October 2007, Obama proposed an energy plan that would require polluters to pay for their emissions via a "cap and trade" system and that would implement a national carbon emissions cap. In the U.S. Senate, Obama has co-sponsored the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act to cap emissions from industrial plants and oil refineries. He supported a January 2007 meeting of a group of evangelicals and climate scientists to advocate measures to prevent global warming. Obama has also called for stricter restrictions on the amount of carbon in fuels and tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars. He plans to allocate $150 billion over the next 10 years to create a "green energy sector" that would support up to five million new jobs. |
