John Lloyd of Drexel College Democrats wrote me yesterday, asking why people weren't making a bigger deal about John McCain not having a national energy strategy. It's a good question:
I'm trying to raise the profile of what I consider an important fact: John McCain doesn't have an energy policy. He's spoken and speechified about reducing our dependence on foreign oil and increasing renewables, but he hasn't put forward ANY specific policies or a platform that he supports, with the horrible exception of the gas tax holiday.
I think it's important because in 2000, G. W. Bush said much of what McCain is saying now, and he put forward his energy policy 38 days before the election. His energy policy never really got the scrutiny it should have, and this cycle I don't want McCain to get away with that.
You'll notice that on McCain's issue page he has no page for "energy" (its not under environment). I have scoured the internet and his speeches, and he has put forward nothing more than platitudes and rhetoric. Considering how Obama is often criticized (unfairly) as all talk and no substance, i'd really like to see people start to attack McCain for trying to run without putting forward an energy policy.
We've started a "McCain Energy Policy Watch" on our blog that tracks how long he's been running without putting forward a platform addressing that crucial issue. We made a Flash widget that counts the days, hours, and minutes that he's been running without putting forward an energy policy, you can find it at the link below.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
We're actually doing a series of posts examining specific polcies that Obama has proposed that McCain is silent on. First is the introduction/overview, day 385 compares their respective cap-and-trade proposals (McCain put his out seperately from any energy plan), and day 410 examines revenue decoupling. More will follow.
