April Fool joke, right?
John McCain is sounding a lot like Al Gore. Is this some kind of April Fools Day joke? The NYT quotes Senator McCain with approval:
“I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears,” Mr. McCain said pointedly. “I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges…Instead of idly debating the precise extent of global warming, or the precise timeline of global warming, we need to deal with the central facts of rising temperatures, rising waters, and all the endless troubles that global warming will bring,” he said at a Vestas wind turbine manufacturing plant in Oregon, where the environment is a central issue for voters. “We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great.”
Unfortunately, many on the Left were not impressed and will continue to support other candidates of their choice. Of course, McCain could have said something like this:
there would be plenty of oil available to the United States if the oil companies were allowed to get it: “Eighty-five percent of offshore oil is off-limits.” Responding to objections to offshore drilling by environmentalists and their allies in Congress, Robertson noted that some of the strongest pro-environment nations in Europe - he mentions Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom - lease offshore locations for oil exploration. The technology has become so good, he said, that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, “one thousand offshore wells were destroyed (in the Gulf of Mexico), but not one leaked.” Australia, he said, has allowed offshore drilling for 40 years without any environmental damage.
In addition to the sinking value of the dollar, here is the main problem: According to the Department of Energy, U.S. oil production has fallen approximately 40 percent since 1985, while the consumption of oil has grown by more than 30 percent.
According to government estimates, there is enough oil in areas accessible to America - 112 billion barrels - to power more than 60 million cars for 60 years. The Outer Continental Shelf alone contains an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Had President Clinton not vetoed exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in 1995, when oil was $19 a barrel, America would currently be receiving more than 1 million barrels a day domestically
It seems doubtful that Senator McCain picked up any meaningful amount of votes from Clinton or Obama supporters by saying the former and not the latter. Maybe the joke is on the GOP.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:01 am
The speech is here.
Not only will we mandate inefficiencies that will drive the cost of energy even higher, but apparently (”…other means to engage those countries that decline to enact a similar cap”) we might start a trade war with China if it refuses to cripple its economy. And, heeyyyy!…, maybe we can default on American debt to the extent that creditor nations do not do their fair share (as defined by us, of course).
May 14th, 2008 at 7:19 am
McCain is giving us a glimpse into his future policies and attitudes. If you love nobama you’ll worship McCain. Me I’m voting for anyone other than these two Marxists.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I don’t think McCain really cares whether he wins. He just wants to stand up at the end and lecture us all on what an honorable, respectful campaign he ran.