McCain Clear Pick on Energy for Mainstream Montanans

When it comes to energy policy, Montanans have a clear choice this election– back the presidential candidate who has a sensible and forwarding looking plan that will secure our energy independence and unleash an era of economic prosperity for our state, or back a candidate that is a solid supporter of the radical environmental movement that has resulted in our dependency on Middle East oil and the disappearance of many once high paying jobs in our state.

Montana, and the country, need a pragmatic, balanced and noble energy policy that acknowledges that fuel technologies like clean coal, oil and nuclear can be done safely, efficiently and cheaply.

The irony? John McCain represents this pragmatic change while Barrack Obama and the “new politics of change” offer just the opposite - a retreat to a Carteresque approach that is ill-informed, misguided and dangerous. Last time we tried this we were all waiting in line for gas…or at least Momma Scoop was.

This week, McCain boldly outlined an energy plan for the next twenty years – one that will focus on proven domestic solutions (like oil, clean coal and nuclear) while blending in a strong mix of alternative energies like solar, wind and alternative fuels. Meanwhile, Obama can’t wrestle himself free of the liberal-progressive interest groups that have a stranglehold on energy policy reform.

The only word from the Obama camp on his plan?

“No”… on anything and everything related to fossil fuels. No exceptions. Obama’s lack of action means he will continue the current stalemate that has lead to ever increasing gas and fuel prices. Somehow he thinks this type of bullheaded leadership is a break from the Bush years.

It seems that the best response Obama can muster is that drilling for oil off the coast of Florida and California will not produce oil for at least five to ten years.

So instead, Obama bets the farm on solutions that are twenty to fifty years away from having any real ability to replace fossil fuels, if ever. And his near-term plan? Tax the hell out of oil company profits, slap other corporations and individuals with a carbon tax, and completely ignore ways to make our current solutions cleaner and greener.

All he has to do now is give a little speech about our own malaise and the formula will be complete.

So why is Obama doing this? The only entity to gain from his approach is the federal government, which will become the new central force in the energy economy, doling out resources and penalties according to their political philosophy and agenda. The Democrats have been wanting to do this for years, admitting in private that Carter was only missing a better marketing plan. This policy fits into the master plan - build government and you build a solid democrat majority.

McCain is comparing his visionary plan to the challenge President Kennedy gave our nation to send a man to the moon, which is a just comparison for this equally noble mission. According to his plan, it will take at least that amount of effort and focus to slowly when ourselves off foreign oil totally by 2025.


McCain rightly understands that developing a long-term energy policy that keeps our country secure while leading us into a future of new, cleaner fuels is the defining issue of our times.

Montanans are beginning to understand that our past policies have not only been bad for the country, but limiting to the prosperity of our state.

That’s one reason why we should support McCain in 2008.

To learn more about the McCain energy plan, visit the Lexington Project.

Or watch highlights of the McCain Energy Security speech...

"In recent days I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lexington Project -- named for the town where Americans asserted their independence once before. And let it begin today with this commitment: In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025."

- John McCain, June 25, 2008