Subject: [big campaign] Sierra Club Responds to Sen. McCain ’s Energy Speech
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:40:14 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

elaboration on yesterday's statement...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2008
Contact: Josh Dorner, 202.679.7570 (m)
   David Willett, 202.491.6919 (m)

Sierra Club Responds to Sen. McCain’s Energy Speech
Speech to Follow, Expand on Failed Bush Energy Policies

Washington, D.C.—Senator John McCain is slated to give a major policy
address on energy issues later today in front of an audience of oil
industry executives in Houston.

Yesterday Senator McCain called for lifting a nearly three decade old
federal moratorium on drilling off of our coasts.  "There are areas off our
coasts that should be open to exploration and exploitation, and I hope we
can take the first step by lifting the moratoria," said Senator McCain.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061602148.html

Yesterday’s Sierra Club response to Senator McCain’s announcement can be
found here.
http://sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2008-06-16.asp

Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director

“Instead of siding with the hardworking American families being exploited
by an energy industry awash in record profits, Senator McCain supports
allowing Big Oil to begin the wholesale “exploitation” of our coasts.
Rather than offering consumers real relief from skyrocketing energy prices,
Senator McCain’s plan would merely pad Big Oil’s bottom line while putting
thousands of miles of pristine beaches and coastline at risk.

“While he refuses to support the incentives for renewable energy needed to
make the clean energy future a reality, Senator McCain wants more of the
same reckless and outdated energy policies that President Bush and his
allies in Congress have pushed for the past seven years: more ‘traditional
coal,’ more oil, and more nuclear power. These disastrous policies have
enriched special interests while devastating both our economy and our
environment.

“If Senator McCain is really interested in breaking our addiction to oil,
putting America back to work, and tackling global warming, we urge him to
reconsider his support for the failed policies of the past.  It’s time for
Senator McCain to support the common sense plan put forth by the Senate
leadership, the Consumer-First Energy Act.  This plan would make sure the
oil industry is paying its fair share, crack down on speculators, put our
economy back on the path to prosperity, help end our dangerous dependence
on fossil fuels, and fight global warming.  We urge Senator McCain to
choose wind farms, not more windfalls for Big Oil. “

Selected Excerpts from Senator McCain’s Houston Energy Speech

Sen. McCain: “The next president must be willing to break with the energy
policies not just of the current Administration, but the administrations
that preceded it, and lead a great national campaign to achieve energy
security for America.”
Reality: Senator McCain’s plan for more drilling, more coal, and more
nuclear power is identical to the energy policies put forth by President
Bush and his allies in Congress for the past seven years.

Sen. McCain: “Over time, we must shift our entire energy economy toward a
sustainable mix of new and cleaner power sources.  This will include some
we use already, such as wind, solar, biofuels, and other sources yet to be
invented”
Reality: Senator McCain has consistently voted against requiring utilities
to produce a certain percentage of our electricity from renewable sources
like wind, solar, and biomass.  He also refuses to support key incentives
for clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency.  McCain has missed two
Senate votes in the past several months when such initiatives failed to
pass by a single vote (12/13/03, Vote 425; 02/06/08, Vote 8).  Senator
McCain continues to support billions in new and existing subsidies for
nuclear power plants.

Sen. McCain: “Investigation is underway to root out this kind of reckless
wagering, unrelated to any kind of productive commerce, because it can
distort the market, drive prices beyond rational limits, and put the
investments and pensions of millions of Americans at risk.  Where we find
such abuses, they need to be swiftly punished.  And to make sure it never
happens again, we must reform the laws and regulations governing the oil
futures market, so that they are just as clear and effective as the rules
applied to stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments. In all of these
markets, reform must assure transparency, prevent abuse, and protect the
public interest.”
Reality: Senator McCain has refused to support to the Consumer-First Energy
Act of 2008 (S.3044), which would crack down on speculators and price
gouging.

Sen. McCain: “As for offshore drilling, it’s safe enough these days that
not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from
the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston.”
Reality: According the Coast Guard, more than 7.1 million gallons of crude
oil were spilled in at least nine major incidents and 35 smaller incidents
as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina alone.
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/comrel/factfile/factcards/hurricane_katrina.htm

Sen. McCain: “At the very least, one might assume, America had surely been
building new refineries to achieve a more efficient delivery of gasoline to
market, and thereby to lower the prices paid by the American people –
especially in the summer season.  But the policymakers in Washington
haven’t got around to that, either.  There’s so much regulation of the
industry that the last American refinery was built when Jerry Ford was
president.”
Reality: The oil industry has expanded older refineries, but in generally
has purposely allowed refining capacity to languish in order to constrain
supply.  In Senate testimony before the Congress (November, 2005), the
Chief Executive Officer of Shell stated, "We are not aware of any
environmental regulations that have prevented us from expanding refinery
capacity or siting a new refinery." In addition, Conoco's CEO testified,
"At this time, we are not aware of any projects that have been directly
prevented as a result of any specific Federal or State regulation."
Finally, BP’s CEO concluded “it does not believe that any Federal or state
environmental regulations have ‘prevented us’ from expanding refinery
capacity or siting a new refinery.” The Bush Administration’s own EPA also
concluded in 2002 that permitting requirements had "not significantly
impeded investment in new power plants or refineries." (EPA, New Source
Review: Report to the President (June 13, 2002))

Sen. McCain: “Nuclear power is among the surest ways to gain a clean,
abundant, and stable energy supply, as other nations understand.”
Reality: While opposing subsidies for renewable energy and energy
efficiency, Senator McCain supports billions in new and existing subsidies
for nuclear power.  Nuclear power is a dirty, dangerous, and costly
distraction from the policies we really need to build the clean energy
future and fight global warming.  Costs for new nuclear power plants are
skyrocketing, with Florida Power and Light recently estimating in a
regulatory filing that a two-reactor expansion at its Turkey Point facility
could cost as much as $24 billion.
http://energycentral.fileburst.com/EnergyBizOnline/2008-3-may-jun/Financial_Front_Prices.pdf

Sen. McCain: A gas tax holiday is “the most direct and obvious way to give
Americans a break at the gas station.”
Reality: Most economists agree that a gas tax holiday would do absolutely
nothing to lower prices at the pump.  More than 200 leading economists,
including 4 Nobel Prize winners, have denounced Senator McCain’s and
similar plans.  The Sierra Club believes it would do little else but offer
Big Oil another 18 cents per gallon in profits at the pump.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTzCmqCNyLho&refer=home

All quotes are from excerpts of the text of McCain’s remarks as prepared
for delivery at 5 p.m. to energy industry executives in Houston.

# # #

David Willett
National Press Secretary
Sierra Club
(202) 675-6698 (w)
(202) 491-6919 (m)
[email-masked]
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