Clarifying the red and blue claim to green

At least they can agree on something. Both presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama admit that global warming and fossil fuel dependence are dire issues that need to be immediately addressed in order to secure our nation’s environmental and economic future.

However, while both McCain and Obama are happy to trade in their respective red or blue for an image-friendly shade of green, it’s clear that each candidate’s policies are actually quite distinct.

Sure, there are some general similarities: Both Obama and McCain support a cap-and-trade system. This system would place a cap or maximum limit on emissions while providing emissions allowances for companies and industries. The point of the cap-and-trade system is to provide a numeric measurement of how much pollution is being emitted and to create incentives for companies to pollute less.

Both candidates call for a drastic cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Obama calls for an 80 percent cut below 1990 emissions levels; McCain calls for a 60 percent cut.

Both men support the future use of “clean coal” technologies. Currently, half the nation’s electricity is powered by coal-fire plants, which radiate a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, furthering the problems of global warming and the weakening ozone layer.

But in terms of actually manifesting environmental change, McCain and Obama are on two different sides of the spectrum.

McCain’s energy policy focuses on nuclear energy and offshore drilling. The Republican candidate calls for the creation of forty-five new nuclear power plants to be built in the U.S. by 2030, bringing our country’s total to 100. His philosophy is aimed at reducing our nation’s reliance on coal-fire electricity. McCain cites France as a prime example ““ a country that gets 80 percent of its energy from clean, emission-free nuclear energy.

But what the Arizona senator fails to realize is that, while France may be a large producer of nuclear energy, its foreign oil imports have steadily risen. Not to mention the bad public image nuclear energy has received in past decades ““ Chernobyl or Three Mile Island disasters, anyone?

McCain also supports offshore drilling as a supplement to his nuclear policy.

Though offshore drilling technology has drastically improved since the first site in Summerland, California in 1896, there are still great environmental risks involved.

Drilling for oil in our oceans can bring up hazardous contaminants such as arsenic, benzene and mercury. These chemicals will trickle into fish populations in the ocean and, ultimately, end up in our bodies.

Obama’s policy offers a more well-rounded and innovative approach to healing our nation’s eco-ailments.

The Democratic candidate calls for a ten-year, $150 billion fund for “climate friendly” measures, including developing technologies for biofuel, hybrid and plug-in cars, and power from wind, solar and clean-coal.

He also calls for a private-public partnership to help Detroit reinvent itself as the clean-car capital of the world, thereby shifting automobile economic gains back into U.S. hands.

Obama also generally opposes opening additional U.S. waters to offshore drilling, citing environmental concerns such as oil spills and other chemical contaminations in our oceans as potential dangers.

Yet the key factor that will determine the success or failure of Obama’s policy relies on the state of our floundering economy over the next four years. In its current state, the ailing economy cannot support the drastic (though commendable) changes Obama’s plan calls for.

Large-scale changes, such as shifting a heavy load of our industries away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy sources, could potentially harm existing financial networks.

But, in truth, aggressive environmental policies and a sweeping call for change are exactly what our country needs. Currently, the U.S. still has not joined the Kyoto Protocol, while thirty-seven other industrialized nations have.

If our country strives toward making meaningful environmental progress, we need to take big leaps and bring these issues to the forefront. The issues of global warming and climate change do not exclusively affect “eco-freaks” or Captain Planet ““ securing our environmental future is a top priority for our nation as whole, and our future president must acknowledge that.

Seeing green? E-mail Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.

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