Ha ha ha. This is a funny (or perhaps sad, but I’ll go with funny for now) commentary on Senator McCain’s position on energy reform. The Wall Street Journal blog exposes a serious concern for voters:
As McCain was talking about his energy plans, a protester in the audience at Missouri State University yelled out that McCain had accepted a half million dollars this year from “big oil.”
“That’s more than any other senator!” he yelled. “How can you be trusted?”
After the event, McCain was asked in a news conference if that were true, though the questioner mistakenly quoted the protestor as saying McCain took in a half billion dollars.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about. So I can’t respond,” he said.
Indeed, McCain does lead all other senators, and all others who ran for president, in contributions from the oil and gas industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ analysis of federal data in the 2007-08 election cycle. McCain collected $724,000 through May.
This is more than double the amount his competitor has collected. It is little surprise that the energy industry lobbies candidates and pays heavily for government protection. The problem is McCain claims to be ignorant of his relationship with oil, and yet is aggressively calling for expanded drilling. When it comes to security, pro-BigOil policies usually mean bad news for America, so I expect a candidate to take a stand on energy reform that puts oil in perspective. This news shows McCain could decide to undermine his own country for personal financial gain.
Updated to add (June 20, 2008), an article by US News has California Republican Governor explaining the issue nicely:
“We are in this situation because of our dependence on traditional petroleum-based oil,” Schwarzenegger said. “The direction our nation needs to go in, and where California is already headed, is toward greater innovation in new technologies and new fuel choices for consumers. That is the way we will ultimately reduce fuel costs and also protect our environment.”
Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has also declared his opposition to lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling.
Kudos to Schwarzenegger for being so clear on this issue and advising how to manage the risks from a more balanced perspective.