McCain and Obama on the Environment: Common Ground?

Upon analyzing the environmental platforms of both Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL), it has become apparent to me that they are both market liberals, as defined by Clapp and Dauvergne. Both presidential candidates appear to be taking a market-based approach to environmental reform, encouraging investments into alternative energies and technology in order to make the United States less dependent on fossil fuels. McCain and Obama both support cap-and-trade policies which would place limits on carbon-based emissions and would offer the industrial sector the opportunity to buy and sell emissions permits, making the search for carbon-capture and sequestration technology economically competitive. In other words, they support market-based incentives which would encourage clean technologies, a fundamental belief held by market liberals. Additionally, McCain supports offering a $300 million “prize” for those who harness a state-of-the-art car battery which would “leapfrog” hybrid and electric car sales at thirty percent of the current cost for hybrid cars currently on the market. He also believes that investing in nuclear energy will serve as the cornerstone to America’s clean energy movement, and that investing in alternative energies will create millions of jobs and spur the economy.

Meanwhile, Obama supports the creation of five million “green collar” jobs in the energy sector, which would essentially help alleviate the unemployment rate while directly bolstering the economy. To put this in context, according to Clapp and Dauvergne, Obama apparently believes that two factors contributing to the environmental crisis is weak economic growth and poverty. By eliminating these problems, Obama believes we will not only create technology which would help reduce our impact on the environment, but would also provide economic relief. Furthermore, Obama’s insistence that new technology—whether in the form of clean energy, carbon capture technology, or lower vehicular emissions—will help solve the problem goes hand-in-hand with the market liberal approach to solving the growing environmental problems our country (and the world) faces.

Because both candidates, in my opinion, have similar visions for the environment, it is difficult for me to decide which one of them has the better energy policy. I am a fervent Obama supporter, but McCain is actually talking some sense on environmental issues and economic issues affecting the environment, though I strongly disagree with McCain’s call for domestic oil drilling. While I do believe that domestic drilling could potentially reduce gas prices, the price of gasoline is not what I am concerned with. I am concerned with eliminating carbon emissions, and reducing our dependency on all oil—not just foreign-produced, but domestically produced as well. Additionally, I do not support alcohol-based fuels, as he does. Alcohol-based vehicles still produce pollutants, and only serve as a “distraction-based alternative” which takes our focus off of reducing emissions in favor of energy and economic independence. However, I strongly support his call for expanding nuclear power. Nuclear power produces a lot of energy, and it is clean. While there is a problem with nuclear waste, government-funded storage facilities should be built to contain such waste. And while some are concerned that nuclear power plants may experience meltdowns, I have researched this topic extensively and discovered that technology exists in countries such as Germany and Japan which have made nuclear plants “meltdown proof.”

As for Obama, I support his steadfast support for creating green collar jobs and investing in wind and solar energies, which I believe could contribute significantly to our energy revolution. I also support his decision to open up the petroleum reserves, rather than drill domestically, to provide a short term solution to our “pain at the pumps.” While I am opposed to continuing our reliance on oil, it seems to me that his vision for our environmental future is rooted in alternative energies, and making those energies a staple in our now-stagnant economy.