It’s Getting Hot In Here

With all the attention paid to the Democratic presidential candidates’ positions on climate change, blogs and commentators are perhaps missing out on the most interesting and nuanced climate-story of the election: the up and down candidacy of Republican Senator John McCain.

Most climate activists dismiss McCain as nothing but a middle of the road Republican who is, if anything, confusing the issue by laying out moderate solutions to a crisis that demands bold action. But to Republicans, McCain is pushing the envelope. Just look at the recent statements from the hack-conservative American Environmental Coalition who blasted McCain in the Michigan primary for his “climate change treachery.” Or an even more recent article by Dean Barnett in the conservative Weekly Standard. Barnett criticizes McCain for his opposition to drilling in ANWR, arguing that he is way out of line with the standard Republican position:

The Grand Canyon is a national treasure, while ANWR is a frozen chunk of ice in one of the world’s most remote spots. Nevertheless, McCain’s message is clear: Only a Philistine would consider violating the Grand Canyon. Because ANWR is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon, only Philistines would support its despoliation for something so quotidian as the tapping of oil resources. The problem with this line of thinking is that the vast majority of Republicans find themselves on the Philistine side of this debate.

When he was in New Hampshire, McCain was all about talking about climate change - and educating the philistines (Barnett’s word, not mine) in the audience who still thought it was a myth. When students with global warming signs would show up the crowd, McCain would point them out, talk about cutting carbon, and ask the audience to give us a round of applause for “working on something important, something bigger than themselves.” It’s no cake-walk to spend day after day talking with Republican voters about global warming, but with McCain addressing the problem, our job was much easier. It’s harder for people to avoid an issue when someone they admire (and are going to vote for) is up on the stump talking about it. McCain did a great service getting up there and talking about climate change - we may disagree with him, but he convinced a hell of a lot more Republicans that climate is an issue than most of us have. Republicans aren’t where they need to be yet, but McCain took them the first and most important step: recognizing that climate change is a major problem - it’s our job to get in there and finish the job.

Well, that was New Hampshire. It’s a little bit different down here in South Carolina. After a good thrashing by Romney in Michigan, McCain is a bit more cautious about blabbing on about climate change in front of Southern audiences. First of all, the maverick image doesn’t fly too well down here where Republican voters look on the GOP pretty highly. Second, there’s no one to back McCain up. Conservatives bash him from the right in articles like the ones quoted above, and liberals attack him from the left for not being progressive enough. The few wild-cards who don’t fit the equation, like the Evangelical Environmental Network who we did a press-conference with on the state house steps this morning, are a relatively few voices in the wilderness.

So instead of McCain talking about cutting carbon in New Hampshire apple-orchards, we get events like the one I went to this afternoon in Charleston, SC. Now, I’ve been to a lot of candidate events in the last 6 months, but never one on an aircraft carrier. I kid you not. For McCain’s final rally before the primary on Saturday, he pulled out all the stops, hosting his event on a retired, massive aircraft carrier in the Charleston harbor. For us, it was a hell of a trip. It’s one thing to hold up climate signs at candidate rallies in the Northeast, it’s another thing entirely to hold them next to anti-aircraft guns on a naval base in South Carolina. I was just glad we got out alive. But for McCain, it was a perfect opportunity to play up his military record and shout about, “Chasing Osama to the gates of hell!” And in the meantime, completely avoid the issue of climate change - he didn’t event talk about energy independence.

Where does that leave of us with McCain? A lot of that depends on the primary tomorrow. There’s a good chance that McCain will win South Carolina, adding some clarity to the Republican field. If he does (or even if Huckabee does, which is a whole other issue), we’ll be faced with some interesting choices. Do we attack McCain from the left about not being progressive enough on climate? Do we support him on the issue in an effort to move Republicans? What about trying to build more bridges with Republicans, conservatives, and evangelicals who are beginning to come around on climate?

I’m curious to hear what y’all think. In the meantime, I’ll be working on my southern accent and chasing down Democrats for the next week here in South Carolina. Personally, I’m looking forward to the Democrats’ arrival, but part of me will be sad to see McCain go. For all his faults, he’s forced me to think a bit more about how to move this country forward - sometimes it takes pushing from the middle as well as the left to make progress, and when it comes to moving the center of our country towards climate action, I think McCain is playing an important role.