John McCain's Lacking Environmental Policies

In the environmental issues section of Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign website, a quote proudly proclaims that “As John McCain said ‘Americans solve problems. We don’t run from them.’” A great quote, forceful and emphatic; it declares that Senator McCain is a man of resolve in the ongoing environmental crisis. Yet it is completely deceiving. If McCain has done anything in this ecological fight, it has been to run, quietly but consistently, away from any type of decisive action.
Recently, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), a politically independent group which monitors the environmental voting records for different candidates, released the National Environmental Scorecard. This scorecard monitored the voting records of Senators and Representatives on fifteen crucial environmental legislations. In the rating of this scorecard, John McCain received an astoundingly dismal score of zero. McCain was the only member of Congress to skip every single vote on the environmental issues scored by the LCV! He has run away from making a decision, pro or con, on each important piece of environmental legislation in the 110th Congress.
The implications of this scorecard are enormous. As a presidential candidate, McCain has the responsibility of making his positions clear to the public. If, as Senator, McCain has not voted for any piece of environmental legislation, be it on water resources, oil refineries, drilling offshore or on renewable energy, how will voters discern what positions he will take as President? John McCain may say that he backs limiting carbon emissions, or sustaining the American National Park system, but his record lacks support for this claim. The truth must be known about McCain- he has run from every opportunity to make a difference at a time when the environmental crisis is necessitating significant change. We need a president who will work to solve these problems, and McCain is not that man.
As two seventeen-year olds, we won’t even be able to vote in the upcoming presidential election. But this is our future. Choices that will be made by voters in this election will affect us not only in the next four years, but for many years to come. We are concerned that people don’t know how John McCain might shape the environment and the world.
-Anna Applebaum and Milly BeeBee