June 4th, 2008

Who’s The Greenest? Obama vs. McCain

Posted by Jason Pelletier, Low Impact Living

Stumble it!digg it add to del.icio.ustechnorati

Now that we seem to have a Democratic candidate, we all need to be digging into the environmental views and policy plans of Senators Obama and McCain.

To help us sort it out, Reuters has published a featured called FACTBOX: U.S. Presidential Candidates on the Environment and Energy.  It’s a good piece and we encourage you to read it.  Here are some highlights:

On Climate Change

   +  Obama would cut carbon dioxide emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and require fuel suppliers to cut carbon content by 10 percent by 2020.
   +  McCain favors a cap-and-trade approach to carbon emissions. He sponsored legislation in 2007 to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2050.

On Oil Use

   +  Obama would reduce overall U.S. oil consumption by at least 35 percent by 2030.
   +  McCain has no specific targets. He says he will unveil a strategy to reduce reliance on foreign oil sources.

On Biofuels

   + Obama would boost the renewable fuel standard to at least 60 billion gallons of advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol by 2030.  He would also mandate that all new vehicles be “flex-fuel” by the end of 2012.
   + McCain favors ethanol incentives after opposing them in the past. He generally opposes subsidies and tariffs that distort the marketplace.

Grist has also done some excellent interviews with the candidates on their environmental positions. Click here to read McCain on the Record, and click here to read Obama’s views.

What do YOU think of the candidates’ stances on the environment? Who are you supporting and why?

Popularity: 1% [?]