Green Times

It looks like the two major candidates for the presidency this fall will both have fighting global warming as one of their goals for their administration if they are elected.

That is hardly surprising from the Democratic side of the ticket, which is likely to be filled by Senator Barack Obama. He has indicated that global warming is a serious world problem and that steps must be taken to reduce “greenhouse gases.”

Senator Hillary Clinton, who now seems very unlikely to prevail in the nomination contest, also is strong supporter of measures against global warming, as are most Democratic politicians.

What is surprising, however, is the presumed Republican candidate, Arizona’s Senator John McCain, is also on the global warming bandwagon. In fact, he made a point of poking the George Bush administration in the eye on the issue in a recent speech.

The president has questioned the validity of global warming in the past and opposes stringent measures to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which scientists have identified as a cause of the increasing global temperature.

The Associated Press reported that McCain pointedly said he would provide the kind of leadership that has been lacking on global warming, “I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges (like global warming). I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto.”

The 1997 Kyoto Agreement imposed stringent restrictions on nations to force reduction of greenhouse gases. It went into effect in 2005 with more than 170 nations having signed it, but the United States has never ratified it.

McCain’s position on global warming is not a typical one for his political party, and conservative talk show hosts have harangued him for his “liberal” position on the issue. It confirms their belief that the Arizona senator is not a true conservative.

McCain is trying to deflect that criticism by presenting his position as being marketplace oriented. He supports a so-called cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emissions program - as does Obama.

Under that arrangement, industries would be given emissions limits by the government that they would have to meet. However, if one industry did better than another, it could sell its surplus polluting capacity to industries that did not meet their limits.

“As never before, the market would reward any person or company that seeks to invent, improve or acquire alternatives to carbon-based energy,” he said in his speech.

McCain argues there is no doubt that the planet is warming, although some continue to doubt it. And even if it is, some believe natural forces beyond the control of humans are the major cause and human steps to correct warming are pointless.

In the senator’s view, it makes no difference whether global warming exists or not because whatever steps we take to deal with it will improve the environment anyway, and that is a good thing. But that is the major kink in his policy. It does make a difference that we have this policy right.

The proposals to control greenhouse gases are not minor steps. They would put severe limits on our industrial capabilities and endanger our economic well-being. They would also result in substantial costs which all of us would end up paying.

To the “true believers” that doesn’t matter, but why impose that kind of harm without absolute certainty?

Unfortunately, it appears that there will be a major push by the White House on global warming after President Bush leaves office, no matter who is living there.

Source: Yuma Sun, USA