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John McCain is one of the leading candidates of the Republican Party for the election of 2008 and has been foreseen to be the winner of the Republican nomination, though this is yet to be determined in actuality. One of the leading issues of this election is that of climate change, otherwise referred to as global warming and what each of the candidates plans to do or not do about this delicate topic. On the Democratic side, climate change is all too real and terrible. It is their belief that drastic measures have to be taken as soon as possible to relieve the stress caused by greenhouse gasses on the atmosphere. On the other hand, the Republican Party has chosen to believe that climate change is fictitious and that very little or nothing has to be done at the present. Despite all of this, Senator John McCain has chosen to preach a path somewhere in the middle of all of this. He has neither taken a strong stand towards solving the problem, or standing back and living under the pretense that the climate change does not really exist. Because of this in between stance, Senator McCain has and is still taking criticism from both the Democratic left and the Republican right.
McCain’s stance on the issue goes something like this, he believes climate change to be a real a potential threat and wants to take steps towards eliminating it, however, he is willing to let those who have the financial means to continue with their gas emissions as long as they pay for them. He plans on moving the country towards more renewable fuel sources including nuclear power, while simultaneously moving farther and farther away from the United States’ dependence upon oil for our energy. On the Republican side of his argument, he states that, “other proposed remedies, such as fuel standards for cars, which many Democrats are proposing, would be more disruptive to the economy” (source A). This proves that Senator McCain is still far enough away from the Democratic left and way of thinking that he would still rather do nothing than to take the dramatic measures that have been endorsed by the Democrats.
For his actions, McCain has been criticized for promoting his, “up and down candidacy” and for, “confusing the issue by laying out moderate solutions to a crisis that demands bold action” (source B). This truly represents the position of John McCain, it could almost be described as indecision on a subject that everyone is looking for an answer to, whether that answer is to let it be or to take real action. The public is not looking for something in between and uncertain. As far as the Republican side of the argument is concerned, McCain is way out of line, pushing the envelope, and being outside the box. This is mainly because McCain is talking about climate change like it is real. In a New Hampshire campaign stop, McCain made sure to, “educate the audience who still thought it was a myth”. It being climate change and the audience who still believed it to be a myth are the Republicans. McCain is trying to take the Republican Party in a step towards reconstruction of the system to create a cleaner atmosphere, and as one writer states, “McCain took them the first and most important step: recognizing that climate change is a major problem”. But that was in New Hampshire, in front of a Republican crowd in South Carolina, McCain held a campaign stop on an abandoned aircraft carrier, and did not once mention climate change. This is where the Democratic critics come in to play. For McCain to make such a big deal out of it in one state, and then to completely disregard it in front of a different crowd in a different state does not show the commitment to the climate change problem that the Democrats practice. The Democrats say that McCain is not being even close to progressive enough and needs to realize the extent of the problem and take action. The Democrats seem to almost forget the fact that John McCain is currently the leading Republican representative and he has taken a step towards climate change while the other Republican candidates disregard it. There is heavy criticism coming the Republican side of this debate. Senator Mitt Romney has been especially outspoken about McCain’s ideas. Romney has accused McCain of supporting, “radical climate change legislation” and, “pushing for a massive new energy tax” (source C). In essence, Romney is calling McCain a Democrat, touché Mitt, touché. Romney even went so far as to quote the bible in his battering of McCain. In St. Matthew 7:15, “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves”. In this sense it appears that Romney feels Senator McCain has somehow betrayed the Republican Party and is leading them on, only to destroy them later.
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