John McCain, Tree-Hugging Liberal?

The Nation: The Arizona Senator Isn't Really Serious About Climate Change

(The Nation)  This column was written by John Nichols.

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Yikes, it's really true. John McCain is running for president as a tree-hugging liberal.

No, not an all-the-time environmentalist -- rather, as a swing-state-savvy, targeted-message-peddling, hoping-to-pick-up-the-votes-of-lifestyle-liberals-who-want-to-address-climate-change-on-the-cheap murky-shade-of-green Republican.

So, today, in the battleground state of Oregon, where a reverence for the outdoors requires that Republican contenders greenwash their appeals, McCain's campaign will begin airing a new television commercial that essentially says: "Look, I'm not like George Bush and Dick Cheney. I don't live in la-la land when it comes to global warming. I actually believe in something I like to call 'science.'"

The senator -- who broke a little bit with Bush and Cheney on environmental issues, but who never really lined up with the serious Republican environmentalists who were isolated by the administration and burn-the-planet GOP leaders like Tom DeLay -- is reinforcing the message with a major campaign swing through the northwest, where he hopes to put the sometimes swinging states of Oregon and Washington in play by presenting himself as John McCain: Eco-Warrior.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee swept into Portland on Monday to deliver a major address outlining his plan to "re-establish America's environmental leadership in the world." Here's a hint about how he'll do it: The McCain campaign says the candidates wants to "mobilize market forces."

That may sound good, but as Gene Karpinski, the president of the bipartisan League of Conservation Voters, says, "To his credit, Senator McCain wants to do something serious about global warming, but his proposal falls far short of what the science says we need to do today. He has not substantively improved his plan over the bill he introduced years ago -- legislation that the science now shows is out of date."

Of particular concern is McCain's determination to mobilize the wrong market forces. "[It] is troubling that he continues to support taxpayer subsidies for a mature industry like nuclear which has yet to resolve its waste disposal problem," says Karpinski. "It would be far more cost-effective to invest in renewable energy like the wind energy plant he is visiting today. Better still would be a call for a renewable electricity standard, something he has voted against time and time again."

On Tuesday, McCain will be in Seattle, where his campaign says the candidate will "solicit the views of environmentalists, conservationists and the business community on the most effective strategies for meeting this challenge."

Don't be fooled. The senator's not listening. He's campaigning, as McCain's greenwashing ad confirms.

The script opens with an announcer acknowledging that:

Our environment in peril,

Oil and food prices out of control,

Climate change wreaks havoc with deadly weather.

One extreme thinks high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution.

Another denies the problem even exists.

There's a better way.

Then, McCain does his best to deliver the I'm-no-Bush line that is central to his appeal to voters who think of the environment as something more than a place to search for oil:

I believe that climate change is real.

It's not just a greenhouse gas issue.

It's a national security issue.

We have an obligation to future generations to take action and fix it.

I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

Of course, as perhaps befits the oldest-ever serious contender for the presidency, McCain has embraced an outdated dichotomy: the suggestion that the climate-change choice is between "One extreme (that) thinks high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution" and "Another (that) denies the problem even exists."

In fact, there are smart green solutions that are good for responsible businesses, consumers and taxpayers. McCain could learn about them by studying what European conservatives and even a few American Republicans, like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have been saying -- and doing -- for years.

But, as McCain's ad establishes, he's not really serious about climate change. What he's serious about is neutralizing the environment as an issue in a presidential campaign season that will see millions of American voters -- including a great many wavering Republicans -- treat climate-change as an exceptionally serious election issue.

[irliberal]

Hmmmm.... the man who sings "bomb bomb bomb Iran" to the press and thinks he just made a funny. So sad.

Actually insane, is more like it. Insane McCain? I''m sticking with Obama. Or Hillary. Whichever one secures the democratic nomination. Can''t wait for 11/08! WOOHOOO!

[noloyalisti]

Not only is mcBush an avowed war-monger, he is also a lying flip-flopping slimewad who will do anything, and I mean anything to fool the people. It''ll take more than lies to convince us grampy mcBush.

[elbarnacle]

Was this an editorial? Opinion piece? I missed the arguements. I got the part about the auther not buying McCain''s tactics, but where was his reasoning? What proposals are not sound and why? What would be better and why? Is this journalism????

[forthepeopl1]

please this is a simple thing to fix, why are you bending over for all of the wallstreet scum.
you have the right to do what this paulson/ben did for wallstreet,saying they had to to save america. so you can say the same thing, but this time you would be saveing america, and not wallstreet.
you must come out and stop the forcloseing of all these millions of homes, now,
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MANDATE THAT ALL MORTGAGES THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN OUT FROM 2000 TO 2007 BY ALL AMERICANS TO BE RE-FI A.S.A.P. NO EXCEPTIONS,


NO MATTER WHAT THE CREDIT IS, THEY WILL RE-FI EVERYONE AT JUST OVER PRIME, AND AT A RATE OF 40% OF WHAT IS OWED ON THE PROPERTY( PERSONAL HOMES ONLY)!!
WHY, BECAUSE MOST HOST ARE SELLING AT FORCLOSER FOR 20 TO 30 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR, SO AS TO WHAT PAULSON SAID TO BEARSTEARN 2 DOLLARS IS BETTER THAN NO DOLLARS SO TAKE THE DEAL..NOW REMEMBER ALL OF YOU, IF THIS COMPANY IN 6 MONTHS LOST 98% OF THEIR VALUE FROM 700 BILLION TO WHAT IS IT NOW. AND FOR SOMEONE TO COME IN AND BUY IT FOR NOTHING, WHAT IS THE REAL VALUE OF ALL THESE HOMES???NOBODY KNOWS, SO WHY NOT JUST START OVER??? AND STOP THE BLEEDING FOR ALL AMERICANS.

[e-mail]
DAVID A BELANGER
FOR COMMON SENSE THIS IS SO EASY TO FIX DONT MAKE IT HARDER THAN IT IS PEOPLE.

AND LOOK AT THIS MORNINGS NEWS, THE GREAT POTATOHEAD PAULSON,AND BEN ARE IN TALKS WITH ANOTHER WALLSTREET FIRM GOING DOWN. MERRILL LYNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!

WHAT MORE BAILOUTS FOR WALLSTREET COMING

[perceptions5]

Here''s goes the most vile left-wing magazine in America today, The Nation.

Again, the looney liberals that run this sorry magazine come out again in total support of their pals and party, the Democrats.

More smear, distortion, and lies from the The Nation which every American should shun.

The staff of The Nation should be transported back in time to Germany 1938 where they would fit in with no problems.

Really sad indeed. The Nation keeps the hate and divide going in this great nation.

[swingalong]

McCain is another dim bulb like Bush. He still can''t tell Shiites and Sunnis apart in Iraq. We don''t need this numbskull to give us four more years of disaster.

[perceptions5]

If The Nation was "serious" about the environment they and the other flamming liberal news magazines and newspapers should stop printing and distributing "magazines and newspapers".

Think of all the paper and energy we could save as a county if we eliminated that.

How''s that idea sound, The Nation?

[superdem]

If McCain wants to see what pollution can do, just go to China. The whole country is poisoned because they do NOT regulate their industries'' wastes. And these are commie leftists. Pollution kills no matter what. Democrats know that and care about it, because they believe in SCIENCE. Republicans are just like the Chinese communists, because they only care about MONEY. That''s why the Bush Administration is in bed with them, they''re birds of a feather, and they BOTH suppress their opposition.

[jerr11]

McCain''s the man in November.

If you think it''s good now, wait till we get four years of McCain:

Gas at $10 a gallon.

10,000 dead soldiers in Iraq.

$6,000,000,000,000 squandered in Iraq.

Go McCain Go!

94 MORE YEARS! 94 MORE YEARS!

(In Iraq, that is)

[moneymcbush]

McCain is such a phony.
He claims to support Veterans but he and his new buddy Larry "The Bathroom Bandit" Craig are teaming up to try and kill Webb''s new GI Bill.
Now he claims to be an environmentalist.
Whats next, is he gonna time travel to Bosnia and dodge some snipers with Hillary?

[davidlar2]

Do Democrats care about science when it comes to GM-Foods? There is absolutely no evidence or even reason to believe that a mutation introduced through genetic modification is any different than exactly the same mutation introduced naturally. And the chickens, cattle, tomatoes, corn, .... that we eat all have mutations- none are the same as the wild pre-domestication varieties.

So, pick your issue and you can find either side mis-representing science. The Republicans don''t have a monopoly on it.

[davidlar2]

And let''s take risk and outcome likelihoods when it comes to various surgeries. The Democrats are in bed with the trial lawyers and oppose any reason when it comes to medical malpractice lawsuits. A surgery with a 40% lethality rate does not mean that malpractice has occurred if the patient died. Tell that to a trial lawyer or a Democrat....

[mbcsmith]

Posted by MoneyMcBush at 03:19 PM : May 14, 2008


Vote for change!

What change?

I don''t know, change.

Can you tell us what you mean by Change?

Nope. That would require specifics that I would have to flip-flop later. You know change.

Change what?

Just change, it sounds good doesn''t it.

Well if you''re talking about voting for Obama, his change is clearly more racist attitudes, socialism and surrender to America''s enemies. Now that''s change.

[noloyalisti]

A green Republican is an oxymoron to the nth degree. They support war, large SUVs and big corporations, all of which pollute big time.

What is wrong with liberals, some of whom fought the first King George, anyway? What is wrong with voting for a smart half white man who happens to have progressive ideas that we DESPERATELY need?

I heard a right wing radio host saying that global warming was not real because plants and soda give off CO2. Get a brain! Reminds me of the person below who doesn''t want newspapers because he doesn''t like to read the truth. Get a brain!

[mbcsmith]

Posted by noloyalisti at 04:03 PM : May 14, 2008

Do you post anything that bears any semblence of reality. I thought not. MORON.ORG has you by the short ones and you''re too stupid to know it.

[joyous88]

you don''t know what change we are talking about?

What planet are you from,

How about, a
change in the president,

change the conservative agenda to one that is moral

change every republicon seat to a democrat seat,

change the war in Iraq,

change the education system to one that works so we do not wind up with states full of morons like west virginia

change the health care system to one that works,


change the taxt structure so the wealthy pay the sam as I do.

I could go on forever, the republicons have had 12 years to destroy our country it will take some time to fix

, Oh Yes, lets change things so morons like you dont get to vote

[moneymcbush]

McCain-Craig 08
Bathroom Buddies 4ever

Taking A "Wide Stance" for America!

[davidlar2]

"change the conservative agenda to one that is moral"

This is the type of comment that reflects partisan behavior without understanding the issues underneath the parties, however distorted the actions of both parties may be. The classic left-right divide is one between maximizing equality vs. maximizing freedom while realizing that both cannot simultaneously be maximized. It is one thing for a leftist to think that maximizing equality is more important. It is another to argue that anyone who takes the opposite view of the importance of freedom is inherently immoral.

One can take a cynical view of the Democrats too- tax other people and give the money to me. I am not defending the Republicans, only critiquing blind partisanship.

[dmgenet]

There are "tree huggers" of a sort in the Republican Party. They are called sportsmen. Most of them understand the relationship bwtweeen man and nature. when Reagan had a big mouth in his admin spouting off about drilling here and there in parks and hunting areas he got fired. Why? Because not all environmentalists are on the left. There is plenty of concern to go around. I am not suprised that McCain is more environmental than the current admin. Just about anybody is more in touch than the current admin.

[seafang]

Just because the Republicans put up a senile liberal democrat as their candidate, is no reason for him to go drive off a cliff.

I guess we have the spectacle of three prize fools vying for the title of dumbest person in Washington.

[cfin5]

I like trees, all kinds of trees. Gotta confess I smooched one once,....at about 10 mph on one of those dang three wheeler contraptions. Had to be a Cherry tree ta'' boot. Tried to steer around the tree with a whole 5 minutes of driving experience and KASMOOCH!!! Face got a bit of an organic raspin'' all right.....Cherry tree (1) - Me (0)

[andylance1]

Please tell hatchet man, John Nichols, that McCain is a moderate with some common sense.

Bush has his head buried in the sand.

The Democratic solution is often accomplished with excessive regulations and very high cost. This is why we haven''t any nuclear power plants or off-shore oil drilling.

[tibu987]

John McCain is a clone of Bush.

McCain''s thoughts, ideas, solutions, plans, programs, seem to come to him from someone within the Bush administartion and are as out of touch with reality and the American people as Bush has been throughout his term.

If anyone wants more of the same and votes for McCain, they should be pitied as being as ignorant as he and Bush are.

Gimme a break.....

[stn_sage]

Well, if John McCain is a tree-hugging Liberal,
than I''m a short-legged, two time''n, whiskey drink''n, long-haired, Conservative from MARS!

I''m not...and he ain''t, either!

[gkc99]

Since Cindy McCain, the uber-rich woman who pays the bills in the McCain household, won''t reveal her financial interests, we really don''t know what John McCain might or might not do on any issue, including global warming.

What are Cindy McCain''s positions? She holds the pursestrings and is the money behind John McCain''s grab for the throne.

But we just can''t seem to learn anything, even via our brave press, about this shadowy, secretive treasurer of John McCain''s push for power. Her family, her politics, her money well are all hidden in the mist.

So the big question is, what does Cindy McCain think John should do on the global warming issue? What does Cindy''s pocketbook say?

[juwboy]

Off-topic, but in the same vein:

RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON

Opened up a dialog with Communist China.

Handed over democratic South Vietnam to Communist North Vietnam.

Proposed a national medical insurance system (socialised medicine).

Proposed a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans via a negative income tax.

Froze prices, including rents, for a year.

Richard Nixon, the most far left-wing of all our Presidents.

[old300d]

It is hard to decribe John McCain using groupthink labels. He truly is a non-groupthinker.

Obama on the other hand is a 20 year member of a racist groupthink cult.

Obama has been brainwashed and is a brainwashed groupthinker.

He is using the ideas that divide people he learned at T.U.C.C. to divide the Dem party and given the chance the whole nation.

Warning to Dems ! Don''t under estimate the truly evil messages he has been supporting for 20 years !

Hamas gives poor people food too. They also fill the peoples heads with crazy ideas.

That is why they give people food ! So they will listen to them.

Just like the Nation of Islam and the T.U.C.C.

They give people food so that they can brainwash them ! ! !

Pure evil ! ! !

[noloyalisti]

Some right wing radical who gets his views from Brush Lintbag and Slanthead Hannity asked me what we will do when we get McCain in.

I told him that we may deserve a war mongering, flip-flopping, corporate puppet just like we may have deserved Bush and his successful rule. We deserve the high gas prices, inflation, recession and debt and more people killed in the next war they start because we didn''t impeach them when we had the chance.

[messiahx4eve]

McCain believes Iraq war can be won by 2013
This is the new headline story. So I imagine he will order the deaths of every muslim person ages 13 and above to commence throughout the middle east to end the threat of terrorism because this is the ONLY way to end the "threat" is to have a complete religious genocide.

[joyous88]

McBushCain will be anything he needs to be

to get you to vote for him

remember bush , the guy you want to have a beer with

the criminal;

[joyous88]

real brainwashing takes place in church,

the amature kind takes place in americas cuban torture

center

[ranger1948]

If he really believes the war can be won by 2013, then he must be planning to nuke them. The majority of Americans want us out of Iraq now. They feel the war is illegal and immoral and we cannot afford to continue to pay for this war. We ned a president who will address the issue of Iraq, the economical problems we ar having here in the U.S. , and give us solutions we can live with and immediate relief for tthe working class people. We need a president who is willing to address congress about trying tjhose responsible for war crimes and then make sure it happens. A president that will look at the compoanies that are involved in corruption in Iraq and make them pay for what they have done and pay dearly.

[ptsdveteran]

McSame should be sitting under a Tree, not hugging one. The only " GREEN " he knows is his rich wifes GREEN.

[perceptions5]

Here''''s goes the most vile left-wing magazine in America today, The Nation.

Again, the looney liberals that run this sorry magazine come out again in total support of their pals and party, the Democrats.

More smear, distortion, and lies from the The Nation which every American should shun.

The staff of The Nation should be transported back in time to Germany 1938 where they would fit in with no problems.

Really sad indeed. The Nation keeps the hate and divide going in this great nation

[carlylaine]

How cute to use the name MCSAME referring to McCain. But what you''re saying that McCain is the same as Hill, and Osama ben Bama. He''s wearing a Repub suit but he is one of THEM...

Great choices we have this time.