McCain vs. Obama on Energy Policy

The Salt Lake Tribune is running a series of articles comparing McCain and Obama's stances on the issues. Today's article compares McCain and Obama's stances on energy policy.

The key energy policy differences between the two are that while McCain is more heavily devoted to old technology such as oil, coal, and nuclear, Obama focuses his attention more on alternative, renewable sources of energy. As the more devout free market capitalist, McCain wants to drill for more oil, including offshore but not in ANWR, and expects that alternative energies will have to compete with fossil fuels in the free market. Obama clearly believes that the government is going to have to be an active participant in the market to ensure that alternative sources of energy get developed as needed.

Comparing the candidates stances underscores something I've long said about John McCain; Maverick is just another way of saying "inconsistent". Yes, he has a history of bucking his party from time to time. But it's been in sort of a self-serving, scatter shot way. Energy policy is a good example of his inconsistency. After voting against Bush's energy bill back in 2003, he's now claiming to be in favor of the alternative energy measures contained in that bill. After voting against offshore drilling in 2005, McCain is now Mr. "Drill, Baby Drill" on the campaign trail. After voting against 20 solar or renewable energy incentive bills over the years, he now tries to position himself as being a big proponent of alternative energy. The reason a lot of Republicans didn't want McCain as the nominee in the first place was his lack of reliability on conservative issues. Looking at his history when it comes to energy, I can see where these conservatives are coming from.