Presidential candidates take the hot seat on the environment

By Christopher Forestieri

After eight years of neglect by an administration that is still “waiting until all of the facts are in” on global climate change, environmental issues are seeing a welcomed revival in the 2008 presidential election.

Both Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) have outlined plans to address global climate change and boast consistently pro-environmental records.

Both candidates acknowledge the reality of global climate change, and agree that man is a contributor. They also pledged support for investing in alternative energy sources and said that the U.S. should have signed the Kyoto Protocol.

However, voters should note several inconsistencies on both sides.

The League of Conservation Voters, an independent environmental advocacy group based in Washington D.C., rated the candidates’ dedication to environmental issues and scored Obama at 96 percent and McCain at just 53 percent.

But in 2005, Obama voted in favor of Dick Cheney’s energy bill, which, among other blows to the environmental movement, gave huge tax breaks to the oil industry.

The bill also set aside subsidies for ethanol based fuels, making it largely popular with a Southern Illinois constituency Obama sought to win over. Obama’s seat on the ethanol bandwagon seems inconsistent with his progressive platform and leaves many environmentalists wishing he would put a greater emphasis on more eco-friendly options.

McCain has spoken out against ethanol subsidies, citing the rise of food costs and that over-production of corn poses other risks to the environment-increased fertilization, pesticides and soil damage.

Despite ethanol’s alleged short comings, Obama has yet to shift his support for subsidies due to his continued push to make political gains in rural America.

But McCain may not be a total tree hugger either.

Though he voted against the 2005 energy bill, earlier this month McCain said he supported removing a federal ban prohibiting off-shore drilling in coastal states as a temporary solution to the price of oil even though he had been staunchly against the measure in the past.

After this incident McCain quickly sought to minimize any love lost within the environmental community earlier this week by proposing a $300 million prize for the development of “a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

There are many questions left to be answered in the months ahead and how each candidate responds will certainly highlight the differences yet to be seen.

Will Obama’s quest to court rural voters preclude his call for alternative energy sources outside of ethanol? Will McCain’s struggle to win over both environmentalists and oil bigwigs allow him to clearly define his plans for change in U.S. environmental policy?

With both Obama and McCain fighting to be seen as the least swayed by special interests, the direction each takes on environmental policy is likely to be a strong barometer of who is the true reformer.