Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Looking at this comparison by Reuters of the presidential candidates’ energy and oil policies, it is clear that Senators Obama and Clinton are proposing more aggressive legislation than McCain. Nonetheless, the good news is that all three candidates have significantly more pro-environmental policies than the current administration. So at least we know some change is on the way. Whether it will be enough to make a difference, we shall see.
Some of the highlights of the comparison:
On gas prices:
McCain and Clinton want to suspend the federal gas tax this summer.
Obama wants to temporarily stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
On fuel economy:
Clinton wants to increase average efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030.
Obama wants to double the current standards by 2026.
McCain has not yet released a specific target but indicates he wants to decrease our dependence on foreign oil.
On biofuels:
All three candidates support dramatic increases in biofuel production and distribution.
Photo credit.
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Posted in Energy, General, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Politics | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
The widely covered political story on Monday was about a speech Sen. McCain gave in Portland regarding global warming. In the speech, McCain attempted to distinguish himself from George Bush’s approach towards the environment by stating, “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.” Some of McCain’s specific policy proposals include: mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, the implementation of a cap-and-trade system, and promising to engage China and India diplomatically to encourage international environmental efforts.
While it is clear that McCain is significantly more pro-environment than the majority of his fellow Republicans (he was the only Republican candidate to be in favor of emission limits and was also the co-sponsor, along with Sen. Lieberman, of one of the early Congressional attempts to implement a cap-and-trade system), he has still received substantial criticism for his environmental voting record, and recently, along with Sen. Clinton, proposed the “lose-lose-lose” policy of repealing the federal gas tax during this summer’s driving season. If he is really going to convince pro-environment voters that he is a real pro-environment candidate, he may have to ramp up the requirements in his proposed legislation, and will definitely have to work on his consistency (as does Sen. Clinton).
… And more on the lose-lose-lose of the McCain/Clinton gas tax proposal:
First “lose” = it would likely be ineffective, as the oil companies will probably just raise prices to make up for the spread.
Second “lose” = but if effective, it would remove an incentive to drive less and use mass transit more.
Third “lose” = it would remove a major source of revenue which is needed to fix our aging transportation infrastructure.
Photo credit.
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Posted in General, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Politics | No Comments »
Monday, March 24th, 2008
We’ve received a number of compliments regarding the photographs that accompany many of our posts. Being an environmental blog gives us the opportunity to post some great photographs from some amazing artists. So, in response, we’ve put together a gallery of recent photographs used in our posts. Clicking on any of the pictures below will take you to the corresponding post. Enjoy… and please let us know if you like this feature.
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Posted in General | No Comments »
