McCain Outlines His Environmental Policy
May 13, 2008
During a visit to Portland, Oregon, Senator John McCain, the presumptive republican nominee, threw his support behind a program that would cap the total emissions for America. Specifically, McCain called for a decrease in emissions to “at least 60 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.”
Politically, this is yet another attempt to distance himself from George Bush, who has repeatedly pushed against any sort of overall emissions targets. Pointing out Bush’s lack of a coherent energy policy, McCain said, “I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges. I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto.” The US is one of two developed countries, along with Australia, that have not ratified the Kyoto protocol.
McCain also pledged his support to work with the EU to pressure India and China into adopting specific targets as well. China has recently passed the US as the country with the largest carbon footprint and is currently opening a new coal fired power plant every week. The rapid economic rise of these two countries has seen a huge increase in their respective carbon emissions, so bringing them on board for a global plan is crucial if any such plan is going to succeed.
While this is the first time a republican has supported a hard emissions target to reduce the national carbon footprint, it is still short of what is proposed by the democrats. Both Obama and Clinton have publicly called for a target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Unfortunately, at this point all of these targets remain talk, as we are yet to see any of the actions required actually implemented.
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