John McCain has several lines in his stump speech where he waxes poetic on the importance of curbing global climate change. His rhetoric soars with a line something like: "If we work to slow greenhouse gas emissions, and stop warming, our grandchildren will thank us for our foresight... But even if we are ultimately wrong about warming, they will still thank us for protecting our environment. So, when I am President I will institute meaningful measures to protect our earth." Or some such bleck.
Well, it should come as no surprise that Mr. McCain is, in fact, no friend of the environment. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters just released Mr. McCain's environmental scorecard. Wait for it: ZERO, ZIP, NADA points for protecting the environment.
Here is today's press release on McCain's commitment, or lack thereof, to protecting our environment.
McCain Scores a ZERO on the Environment
Arizona Senator Skipped Every Crucial Vote in 2007
Washington, D.C.--In the 2007 National Environmental Scorecard released today by the League of Conservation Voters, John McCain receives a score of ZERO. McCain was the only member of Congress to skip every single crucial environmental vote scored by the organization, posting a score lower than Members of Congress who were out for much of the year due to serious illnesses--and even lower than some who died during the term. By contrast, the average Member of Congress scored a 53 in 2007. McCain posts a lifetime score of only 24.
Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director in part:
"Out of 535 Members of Congress, John McCain is the only one who chose to miss every single key environmental vote scored by the League of Conservation Voters last year. When it came time to stand up and vote for the environment, John McCain was nowhere to be found.
"Every other Member who received a zero from LCV last year at least had the temerity to show up and vote against the environment and clean energy time after time. And unlike John McCain, I doubt any of them would claim to be environmental leaders or champions on global warming."
To see his actual scorecard go to lcv.org/scorecard
Democrats must put pressure on McCain regarding this huge disconnect. We have Obama speaking out on climate change now and environmental protection in general. I would like to see Obama take it to the next level and challenge McCain on what he says in campaigning and what McCain actually has accomplished in the Senate. Like his stance on public financing for elections, he seeks to have it both ways. He says one thing and does another.