The McCain Agenda: Kate Sheppard finds a disappointing voting record and little more than empty rhetoric in John McCain's environmental proposals, concluding that the the press and public are responsible, again, for bolstering his "maverick" image:
The problem is that McCain's few admirable gestures toward environmental responsibility have blinded the public and the press to the actual likely environmental consequences of a McCain administration. His refusal to sign any international climate treaty that does not include China and India is, in practice, refusing to sign one at all. McCain has also stressed that he will appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which would affect the outcome in cases like last year's 5-4 decision in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which the court ruled that the EPA has the responsibility of regulating carbon dioxide. In his dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that carbon dioxide is not an air pollutant, and repeated all the absurd claims of the Bush administration EPA on why the agency shouldn't have to regulate emissions. He was joined in that dissent by justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito -- precisely the types of judges McCain says he'd appoint. There's a similar concern about the conservatives he'd tap to head crucial agencies like the EPA and the departments of energy, commerce, treasury, agriculture, and state.
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--The Editors
