John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Republicans want you to believe that they have a real plan for energy independence. They continue to denounce Obama for "opposing nuclear energy" and chant "drill drill drill" or "drill now!" whenever the topic of energy independence comes up. Regarding their distortions of Obama's position on the issue, anyone who has followed Obama's campaign or who saw the last Democratic debate with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards knows that Barack Obama was the only Democrat with a pragmatic proposal for Nuclear power. Obama has stated several times that "Nuclear power has to be part of the mix" when it comes to our long term energy policy, but that we have to figure out a plan for disposal of nuclear waste that makes more sense than shipping spent fuel on trucks and trains cross country to Nevada's Yucca Mountain (McCain supports sending Nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain). Obama does not oppose Nuclear power - but he thinks we should first devise a plan for storing waste rather than diving in and committing to build 40 something new reactors around the country.
The nuclear power lie is not the end of it by any means. Fellow energy collective member and author Joseph Romm compiled a great list of "McCain's 10 energy lies" over at the Huff Post.
Here are few good ones:
My fellow Americans, when I'm President, we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much.
LIE #1: McCain has no plan to reduce oil imports -- indeed, throughout his career he has explicitly rejected every plan that might reduce oil imports substantially, including fuel economy standards, biofuels, and renewables. Heck, he even rejected the plan offered by billionaire conservative oilman T. Boone Pickens to aggressively deploy clean energy and alternative fuels over the next ten years (see The real, Luddite McCain: "The truly clean technologies don't work").
We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas.
LIE #4: McCain has fought against wind and solar and alternative energy for his entire career because he genuinely but mistakenly believes "The truly clean technologies don't work" (see "Anti-wind McCain delivers climate remarks at foreign wind company" and "Why McCain hates renewables but pretends he loves them.")
She's tackled tough problems like energy independence and corruption.
LIE #9: Palin has done nothing to help achieve energy independence because there is nothing the State of Alaska can do. As Pickens and EIA and every independent expert keeps telling us, this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of.
3 comments:
Neither Obama nor McCain have an energy plan with any substance and they both have stretched the truth (lied) to secure votes. They are saying what they need to get elected which means ZERO substance to any speech.
The energy/environment problems cannot be solved with the same thinking that created them, these ways of thinking need to be replaced with others better suited to the needs of our time. Unfortunately, that is the Facebook Generation and by the time they get into politics it will be too late. So one could argue that it is too late for massive programs for top-down change; the change must come from individuals. You are doing your part with this blog. Keep up the good work.
Well, McCain talks a lot about lifting the ban on offshore drilling but not much else. Obama has plenty of "substance" on energy policy, with his website listing a number both short and long term strategies, including investing $150 billion in renewable fuels, creating tax credits for plug-in electric vehicles, making flex fuel mandatory for all new vehicles, and a number of solutions for climate change and energy efficiency.
Obama's factsheet on energy can be found here.
Lies and perks for Big Oil.
Here's a petition to tell Congress to build a sensible energy policy and not to fall victim to the Drill Here, Drill Now whim.
Cross posted from Environment America's Daily Kos Diary Here
I couldn't quite believe it myself when I heard the crowd at the Republican National Convention last week, whipped up into a frenzy over the idea of opening our precious coasts to new drilling.
Click here to see and hear it for yourself.
In the last few days, 10,000 of us have urged our representatives and senators in Congress to say no to new offshore drilling, no to putting our beautiful coasts at risk of devastating spills, and no to the false hope of a quick-and-dirty fix to our energy problems. That's a fantastic accomplishment in such a short time.
But frankly, we need to do more to make ourselves heard over the din of "drill, baby, drill" -- especially when Big Oil's propaganda machine can so easily amplify their call on Capitol Hill.
As soon as the next few days, Congress will vote on whether to pass an energy policy paid for by Big Oil or one that puts us on a path toward a clean, sustainable energy future. Tell Congress to put a stop to the Big Oil agenda right now.
Take Action
We're raising the voice of people from all over the country to expose Big Oil's self-serving agenda, which includes:
* Saying NO to clean energy and energy efficiency tax credits,
* Saying YES to $13.5 billion in tax giveaways to the oil industry, and
* Saying YES to new drilling off our coasts.
Let's face facts. Big Oil's agenda is not about saving us money at the pump. It's about making them more money any way they can.
As outrageous as that is, we cannot win without Congress hearing from more Americans like you.
Click here to tell Congress to pass a sensible energy policy.
"Drill, baby, drill" is no solution to our energy problems, not by a long shot. Help us stand up to Big Oil today.
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