John McCain: We Know You by Now...

For ever so long, the energy and environmental community has been working to communicate the dishonesty, truthiness, deceptiveness of John McCain's claims when it comes to renewable energy and global warming. Sadly, the McBlurring McSame McCain has worked all too well in creating confusion that John McCain is "green", that he is somehow a real leader when it comes to key technologies and approaches for achieving an energy smart future.

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has just released a great video that shines a new light to unblur the situation.

The case against John McCain is quite stark in terms of claims and the realities when it comes to support for renewable energy. Post the last debate, the Obama campaign's fact sheet was actually too generous to John McCain when it comes to renewable energy.

The spin machines work long and hard and fast nowadays. Email boxes around the country are filled with "fact sheets" and other material from campaigns during presidential debates and in the hours afterwards. Among other things, the Obama campaign produced "John McCain's 26 Lies Tonight". Lie #16:

RENEWABLE ENERGY: McCain claimed to support renewable energies, but his record shows otherwise. He has voted 23 times against investing in renewable energies and opposed a bipartisan effort to remove tax breaks for oil companies in order to invest in renewable energy.

23 times? Wow, that seems pretty bad ... except that the real story is worse than that. On at least 50 occasions, John McCain voted against clean energy or (14 times) simply didn't bother to show up.

Now, it is good that the Obama campaign is calling out McCain for his disingenuous statements, "lies", when it comes to supporting renewable energy. For too long, McCain's "Green Straight Talk Express" has actually been the "Dirty Energy Twisted Action Delay Machine".

One way to test John McCain in this arena: compare his voting record with those of Barbara Boxer and James Inhofe.

• McCain voted with Boxer 1 out of 50 times - against signing the Kyoto protocol (note: they were both "not present" several times)


• McCain voted with Inhofe 42 out of 44 times


• McCain voted with Republicans unless they voted with Democrats

So much for John McGreen ...

NOTE: Consider taking one of those last chances, Act Blue for the Earth in an Energy Smart way, help get some truly Energy Smart people into Congress.

Comments

[Stephen308]

I'm not certain this kind of analysis proves much.

For example, what about the IRAQ WAR FUNDING BILLS that PRO IRAQ WAR senators voted against? Did that make them Anti Iraq War? No, they were end the war bills put forward by the left. But you can take those votes and call them "against funding the war". It's very easy to take some votes in congress, take them out of context, and make them say or smear anyway you want to.

Sort of like statistics, statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics.

The truth is McCain has voted for the environment far more than he has voted "against" it. And by the way, the same games can be played with Obama's votes. And I'm sure you would rush to "explain" his votes and be sure that Obama's votes were put right back into context.

These hateful games do not help the environment. But to most people playing the games.....it's not the environment that is number one on their agenda....it's getting "their" guy elected or seeing that "their party" is in control and the environment is just another weapon in the cultural war they wage.