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The final panel of "McCain University" dealt with the Senator's energy policy, which is based entirely on gimmickry and a false reputation as a moderate, according to Joe Romm. Fast facts:
- Romm refers to McCain's stance as "The Placebo Energy Policy" because of his tendency to discuss the psychological boost provided by his announcements, without mentioning that they will have very little affect on the cost, supply or side affects of energy production.
- Case in point: Saudi Arabia has announced plans to produce 700,000 more barrels of oil a day by the end of the year, with no discernible affect on oil prices. McCain's proposal to increase offshore drilling has the potential to increase our capacity by 200,000 barrels a day ... in 20 years. Sounds like that'll help.
- Navin Nayak of the League of Conservation Voters points out that McCain's lifetime LCV voting score is 24 percent.
- The panelists observed that, while McCain and other conservatives often promote technology as the solution to environmental problems, they rarely make serious efforts to encourage investment to develop those technologies. For an example, see McCain's (gimmicky) plan to offer an award of $300 million to the developers of a "super battery" at a time when private companies are already spending over 1$ billion each year to develop one. Or consider that, although the Department of Energy released report saying that 20 percent of our energy could come from wind power if it was further developed, McCain has never voted for a national renewable energy standard. Meanwhile, he refused to support the most recent iteration of this bill because it didn't contain enough subsidies for nuclear power, which already commands a 20 percent market share.
Although that's the end of "McCain University," have no doubt that here at TAPPED we will be moving on to earn post-graduate degrees in McCainology, and sharing the results with you.
--Tim Fernholz
