Sen. Voinovich (R-OH): McCain "will put coal out of business"

By: Lowell
Published On: 11/3/2008 7:03:48 AM

Personally, I support an aggressive "cap and trade" system (a revenue-neutral carbon tax would be even better). As someone concerned with both the environment and national security, I believe we need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels - oil and coal in particular - towards energy efficiency and clean renewable energy that is "made in America."  

Having said that, I'm getting really tired of the McCain campaign's ridiculous, false (Obama's actually too much of a "clean coal" supporter for my tastes), last-minute attack on Barack Obama. As the Jed Report explains:

All you need to know to understand the video is that the Drudge, FOX, and the McCain campaign joined forces with Newsbusters to push a story that the San Francisco Chronicle had concealed an eleven month old recording that supposedly contained devastating audio of Barack Obama proposing to bankrupt the entire coal industry.

Not only was that story false (more detail below), but it turns out that Barack Obama and John McCain have the same position on clean coal technology...

I did some searching around and found this gem, from the 6/30/05 Dow Jones Business News (it's also in the Jed Report video above):

Opponents of the McCain-Lieberman proposal also argued it would cripple energy-intensive industries that feed on coal and other fossil fuels by requiring them to buy emissions credits in the open market or face fines for failing to meet the proposed caps.

"The McCain amendment will put coal out of business," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, adding "this is an unacceptable outcome from my state."

Oh, and it gets even better if you're a fan of coal. According to the Jed Report, McCain's "counterargument" Voinovich was that solving global warming will "involve some sacrifice on the part of the American people." McCain also mocks complaints that "thousands of jobs will be lost" (again, I believe that a LOT more - and higher paying - jobs will be created than eliminated as we move away from fossil fuels towards energy efficiency and renewables).

Now, I don't buy this entire line of reasoning (a topic for discussion another day, but renewable energy is definitely the wave of the future). However, if the McCain camp and his slimeball mouthpieces Drudge and Fox are going to play this idiotic game, well then so can we.


Comments



McCain doesn't "set foot in Southwest Virginia" (Lowell - 11/3/2008 7:09:46 AM)
From the DPVA:

McCain Almost Makes it to SWVA

Obama has visited five times, while McCain's last-minute stop lands south of the border

BLOUNTVILLE, TN -- If John McCain follows his schedule as announced, he won't set foot in Southwest Virginia during his campaign for the presidency.

On Monday, the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) challenged McCain to leave the Tri-Cities Airport and come to Southwest Virginia, where he'll see first-hand the impact of the last eight years of failed Bush-McCain economic policies.

"John McCain has spent months campaigning, but he hasn't made it west of Richmond," said DPVA Chairman C. Richard Cranwell. "If John McCain wants our vote, he ought to at least set foot in Southwest Virginia. Heck, I'll even give him a guided tour."

Barack Obama, by contrast, has made five stops in Southwest and Southside Virginia, including kicking off his general election campaign in Bristol, Va. Since then, Obama has visited Lynchburg, Martinsville, Lebanon, and Roanoke.

"Barack Obama launched his campaign in Bristol, while McCain's last-ditch effort is landing 10 miles south of Virginia," Cranwell said. "Obama and Joe Biden have come to Southwest Virginia to talk with people about their everyday struggles. Meanwhile, John McCain knows that Virginians have paid the price for last 8 years of economic policy. So, it's no wonder he won't come here to look us in the eye and tell us he'll bring more of the same failed Bush policies."



Here is a relevant story... (ericy - 11/3/2008 8:31:10 AM)

I find these kinds of stories give me hope.  It isn't just this one plant in Iowa - further into the story, the tell of a place in Ohio that makes auto glass that is transitioning to also making solar panels.

A Splash of Green for the Rust Belt

Newton, Iowa

LIKE his uncle, his grandfather and many of their neighbors, Arie Versendaal spent decades working at the Maytag factory here, turning coils of steel into washing machines.

When the plant closed last year, taking 1,800 jobs out of this town of 16,000 people, it seemed a familiar story of American industrial decline: another company town brought to its knees by the vagaries of global trade.

Except that Mr. Versendaal has a new factory job, at a plant here that makes blades for turbines that turn wind into electricity. Across the road, in the old Maytag factory, another company is building concrete towers to support the massive turbines. Together, the two plants are expected to employ nearly 700 people by early next year.



McCain is saying it's Obama (Teddy - 11/3/2008 9:56:48 AM)
putting coal out of business, "bankrupting coal." He and Palin are pushing this hard, hard, including radio ads not just in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, but in Virginia as well. In other words, in typical Republican style, McCain-Palin are accusing Obama of what McCain's amendment was accused of doing.

It's confusing, a deliberate obfuscation, including a rabid-Fox attack. Can Lowell elucidate what's going on beyond complaining about so-called clean coal positions of the two candidates?



I Hope That We Are Getting Some Ads Up (norman swingvoter - 11/3/2008 9:10:13 PM)
This election has been a read strain on my family as it is split 50:50 so we all look forward to getting it over with.  My wife has been saying that the news said that Obama is going to bankrupt coal.  I just saw someone on MSCBC babbling this same line.  I have been saying that the report is an absolute lie.  However, this is the type of lie that can swing some votes unless our side responds immediately.

P.S.  I did manage to do door hangers today for Obama. I only had a problem with a real plumber that I bumped into on the street who sounded like a delusional mccain-palin supporter. Luckily he worked for the plumbing company that I have used for 25 years so he had to be somewhat restrained. :)



Coal (lcm303 - 11/3/2008 10:35:12 PM)
     I will be glad when Obama wins.  I am willing to pay the added cost that will result from Obamas cap and trade system.  If it results in some coal bankruptcys then so be it.  It will be in a effort to get to cleaner coal technology!