Where do they stand on science? — week of 27 July 2008

Both the McCain and Obama campaigns recently added additional staff. In the last week, McCain hired members of Karl Rove’s group , and last month, Obama hired former members of Hillary Clinton’s campaign . The new Republican hires coincided with some increasingly negative campaign tactics that have drowned out coverage of some energy policy speeches.

Energy, most specifically energy from oil, is turning into a major issue with the voters. With the U.S. Senate at an impasse on the energy debate and gas prices remaining painfully high, McCain called for a lifting of the ban on offshore drilling. He went further than that and, in a television advertisement, blamed Barack Obama for the high gasoline prices.

CBS News and others derided the nasty tone of the McCain ad , with USA Today’s editorial board calling it “baloney.” Obama responded with an ad that called the McCain ad an example of the “same old politics .”

But according to the same CBS News story , the McCain camp sees energy as an issue where its candidate can finally gain some traction against Obama. McCain did a photo op in front of an oil pump in Bakersfield, California, during which he called Obama “the Dr. No of America’s energy future.”

President Bush tried to give McCain an assist during a speech to welders in Ohio . After nodding briefly toward energy conservation, Bush said there is a “bountiful supply of oil, perhaps as much as 10 years worth,” on the outer continental shelf. He didn’t mention the tens of thousands of acres the oil companies already have oil leases for but haven’t explored, nor the likelihood that it would take until 2017 before any oil from new offshore rigs would reach the consumer.

Obama’s camp responded to the Republican theme by noting its energy plan would “force the oil companies to drill in the areas they’ve already leased.” Obama issued a new ad saying he would crack down on oil speculators, raise mileage standards, and fast-track alternative fuels.

To off-set soaring energy prices, on Friday Obama proposed $1000 emergency energy rebates for consumers that should be applied in the current legislative cycle. Issuing a windfall tax on the oil industry would pay for the cost of the rebates. McCain had previously suggested scrapping taxes on gasoline for three months, which Obama had called a bad idea (4/21/08). Gasoline taxes pay for transportation infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

The Republican push on oil drilling caused a couple of Democratic strategists to say that Obama hasn’t “advanced a compelling narrative” on energy and gas prices.

McCain’s advisers also hinted that McCain would pull out of any “cap and trade” agreement that deals with carbon emissions. President Bush did a similar tactic in 2000, by promising to regulate CO2 emissions during the campaign against Vice President Al Gore , only to change his mind in office. A response from the EPA to McCain dated 24 July 2007 on cap and trade suggested that such a system could reduce CO2 levels from 718 parts per million to 481 parts per mission by 2095. CO2 levels are currently 380 parts per million.

Some nonenergy issues also arose during the week:

• McCain admitted he isn’t a “tech freak” when it comes to computers, but he claims to “understand the importance of the computer” and of blogs. He noted that he is forcing himself to use the computer “more and more every day.” McCain has not advertised his real tech credentials of being on the Senate committee that helped develop the internet, e-commerce, and regulated the telecommunications says the San Francisco Chronicle .
• Obama pledged his commitment to NASA in a statement congratulating the space agency on its 50^th anniversary. He raised the ire of NASA employees and some scientists earlier in the year, however, when he said money for the new Constellation spacecraft would be better spent on education programs.

caused by human activity.

• Rep. Bill Foster, the newest physicist in Congress (there are three), appeared in a video urging that scientific reasoning be the starting point in policy debates. It is an unusual perspective given by the man who replaced staunch Republican and former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert in a special election.
• The Democrats in Congress, led by Barbara Boxter (D-CA) called for the resignation of Stephen Johnson , the controversial head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), said, “We can no longer pretend that there was no political interference at the Environment Protection Agency when time and time again we see partisan politics prevailing over professionalism, and special interest spin prevailing over science.”
• On the global warming issue, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program issued a surprising report saying that the sophisticated climate models scientists use to understand global warming are valid tools that work well in deciphering what is happening to Earth’s climate. The report also notes that the models indicate the warming of the last 20 years was caused by human activity

Jim Dawson