McCain ain't Teddy...at least not anymore.
The Washington Independent has one of the most in-depth issue analysis articles I’ve seen
in a good while.This one pertains to an apparent
faux-environmentalism that McCain proposed.
McCain has, according the article, repeatedly acknowledged that his top political role model remains none other than Teddy Roosevelt. In a recent New York Times interview, McCain was apparently quoted as saying that
“Theodore Roosevelt was my hero and is to this day […]
He was responsible for the National Parks system, the crown jewels of America. They are $6-billion under-funded, they’re under enormous strain.”
Additionally, while counting himself as a “conservative Republican”, he does view himself “to a large degree in the Theodore Roosevelt mold”.
The article delineates that McCain did advocate previously for the Grand Canyon:
‘Early in his Congressional career, McCain pushed through legislation
restricting aircraft flights in the Grand Canyon to keep the natural quiet.
In what he calls one of his proudest achievements, McCain
joined the late Arizona Democratic Rep. Morris K. Udall to set aside
1.4 million acres of Arizona desert as wilderness’.
However….
This has conveniently gone down the tubes in favor of uranium mining.
Apparently, two defense lobbyists close to McCain are responsible for
preventing any cleanup of an abandoned mine in the area.
How surprising.
The abandoned, "Orphan" mine.
Keep in mind that this site is a Superfund one. You got it,
that means that all the nuke waste is going guess where, besides
the Republicans’ heads? Eventually into the Colorado River.
‘McCain’s Senate office and also his campaign staff did not return
several phone calls and emails with a list of questions about
uranium mining near the park and the clean up of the Orphan Mine.
McCain’s silence on the issue is regarded as a disappointment to
many who cite him as a defender of the environment in general,
and the Grand Canyon in particular’.
Additionally, the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act (GCWPA) is
relying on McCain’s support in order to be passed. This bill
protects 1 million acres of USFS/Bureau of Land Management area
from mining, as it includes several of the country’s largest uranium
deposits.
“The bill is not going anywhere without McCain’s support,” says Roger
Clark, air and water director for The Grand Canyon Trust, a
Flagstaff, Ariz.,-based environmental group. (Clark has repeatedly
tried to meet with McCain to discuss GCWPA, but has,
according to the Independent, been rejected each time).
This is precisely why we need someone in the White House who is going to stand up for the environment.
Both the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters have already endorsed Obama, and for good reason:
- Obama’s plan will decrease CO2 emissions 80% by 2050, using both cap-and-trade and carbon sequestration techniques. The cap-and-trade system will feature 100% auctioning of pollution credits.
Obama’s website says that “100 percent auction ensures that all polluters pay for every ton of emissions they release, rather than giving these emission rights away to coal and oil companies”.
- 2030 will see a 50% reduction in energy requirements.
This will allow growth in the hybrid and green-building markets
(keep in mind that the hybrid market alone leaped 50 percent in 2007
from 2006, with the U.S. accounting for 75 percent more sales than its next-largest competitor, Japan)
- A 10-year, $150-billion energy investment will aid in new research fields and patents, plus an estimated 5 million new jobs
- $10 billion a year will go into a VC fund for clean energy, encouraging market innovation
Read the entire list of environmental leaders who support Obama–then pose your ideas for Change.
[push.to.talk]. 