The Straight Talk About John McCain, Energy and the Environment

The top economic issue for voters is the cost of energy and gasoline. But John McCain's proposals won't solve the problem or address its root causes. Instead of helping move America off oil, expanding our energy options or investing in a clean energy future that will create jobs our nation desperately needs, John McCain is offering more of the same Big Oil-dominated policies that have devastated our economy. McCain's plans won't give consumers relief, but they will mean more profits for the oil companies and a third term for Bush energy policies that have benefitted the wealthy and powerful special interests and left ordinary families behind.

John McCain Has Voted to Give Billions in Taxdollars to Big Oil - and Wants to Give them Billions More

John McCain has voted to continue $13 billion in subsidies and tax breaks to big oil. McCain, who has taken over a million dollars from the oil and gas industry, now is proposing an additional $3.8 billion in corporate tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies. This plan would cost $1.7 trillion overall and put any hope of balancing the budget well out of reach.

(Sources: New York Times, 06/17/2008; Grist, 05/16/2008; Center for American Progress Action, 05/27/2008, http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/pdf/oil_tax.pdf)

John McCain Has Voted Against Clean, Alternative Energy

John McCain features wind turbines in his campaign commercials, yet he has actively opposed and voted against the policies needed to make the clean energy economy a reality. McCain is against requiring any of our energy to come from clean, alternative sources and opposes giving incentives to developing clean, alternative energy sources, John McCain-like President Bush, coal companies, and the utility industry-opposes a Renewable Electricity Standard and has consistently voted against such a standard in the past.

(Sources: 2005 Senate Vote #141, 6/16/2005; 2002 Senate Vote #50, 3/14/2002; 2002 Senate Vote #55, 3/21/2002; 2002 Senate Vote #59, 3/21/2002)

John McCain believes the renewable energy industry is "doing fine" and doesn't need any incentives. While John McCain favors billions in new incentives and existing subsidies for dangerous nuclear power, he has voted against tax incentives for the renewable energy industry. If key clean energy incentives that are in danger of expiring soon are not renewed, it could cost more than 116,000 hardworking Americans in the wind and solar industries alone their jobs and sacrifice $19 billion in economic growth.

(Sources: Grist, 10/1/07; 2006 Senate Vote #42, 3/14/2006) Navigant Consulting study, 02/04/2008, )

John McCain's Energy Plan: Gimmicks, Not Solutions

John McCain's main proposals for addressing the energy crisis -- the gas tax holiday and off shore drilling in the US - are gimmicks, not solutions. Neither of these will have any real impact of gas prices for consumers, but both will create a real profit for Big Oil

• Gas Tax Holiday. John McCain's call for a gas tax holiday has been denounced by over 200 leading economists-including 4 Nobel Prize winners. The same leading economists specifically note that the plan would offer no relief at the pump and could merely pad Big Oil's bottom line with an additional 18 cents per gallon.

  (Sources: Bloomberg News, 05/05/2008), http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080502_list_gastax.html)

• Offshore Oil Drilling. John McCain's plan for the unfettered "exploration and exploitation" of our coasts, to use McCain's own descriptions of his offshore oil-drilling proposal will not lower gas prices or give consumers the relief they need. McCain admits his plan would offer only "psychological" relief, while even the Bush Administration admits that it won't do anything to lower prices today, tomorrow, or even a decade from now.

  (Sources: Washington Post, 06/16/2008, ABC News, 06/24/2008; Energy Information Administration)

• John McCain repeats the lie that offshore drilling is environmentally safe and that no spills occurred as a result of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. In fact, the two storms resulted in 6 major, 5 medium, and over 5,000 minor spills-resulting in a total of over 9 million gallons of oil spilled.

  (Source: U.S. Coast Guard: http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/docs/PDFs/osltf_report_hurricanes.pdf)

John McCain's Global Warming Plan is Outdated and Favors Special Interests

John McCain may have shown leadership when he introduced his global warming plan in 2002; but now however, his plan is outdated and inadequate. His plan gives taxpayer money to Big Oil and the coal industry, and gives huge taxpayer subsidies to nuclear power companies to build plants. Most scientists say McCain's plan falls far short of doing what is needed to avert the most catastrophic effects of global warming: an emissions reduction of 80 percent by 2050.

John McCain Has At Least 23 Big Oil Lobbyists in Important Positions in His Campaign

McCain claims he will stop special interest giveaways, but he has at least twenty three people working for his campaign, either as top fundraisers or as senior staff, that have been lobbyists for big oil companies.