McCain Will Drill Now & Attack Energy Problem On Every Front

Sep 4: On August 28, Democratic Presidential candidate Barak Obama told the country about his plans for energy, the environment and climate change [See WIMS 9/2/08]. One week later (September 4, 2008), Republican John McCain, accepting the Party's nomination for President, announced his plans at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN.

McCain said, "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. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we’ll drill them now. 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. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

"Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet. It’s an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It’s time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.

"This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity; jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce." Like Obama's speech, McCain did not mention the word "environment." He also did not mention global warming or climate change.

On September 3, during the endorsement speech of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani said, "He [John McCain] will lead us toward an America that will be independent of foreign oil by an all-of-the-above approach, including nuclear power and off-shore drilling." Following that statement, the entire Convention floor broke into a repeated chant of "Drill Baby Drill."

Also on September 3, Sarah Palin said in her VP acceptance speech, ". . .we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both. Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more nuclear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources."

Access the complete McCain acceptance speech (click here). Access details of the McCain energy plan (click here). Access the complete 2008 Republican Party Platform (click here). Access the GOP Convention website for links to all speeches and additional information (click here). Access details of other issue positions of John McCain (click here). [*Energy]