"McCain Puts Energy At Top Of Priority List" - Editorial, The Portsmouth Herald

December 6, 2007

Article Excerpt

We welcome Republican presidential hopeful John McCain to the sixth presidential candidate forum hosted by Seacoast Media Group, the parent company of the Herald.
The single-issue event will focus on McCain's strategies to develop serious energy security and global climate change policies that are lacking at the national level.

"Global climate change and energy security are
critical challenges facing America and the world, threatening our environment,
prosperity and national security,"

McCain told the Herald recently.

"I am committed to using market-based initiatives
to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce America's dependence on foreign
oil."

This will be the third forum focusing on these issues - Democratic contenders Sen. Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson held similar events in July and October, respectively, and they drew sizeable audiences of voters eager to hear their energy and climate change policies.

We applaud McCain for driving the debate on these issues on the Republican side. Alas, he's been running solo in explaining the necessity to lessen dependence on foreign oil and to begin the massive shift away from a petroleum economy.

With the exception of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who also appears to take the subject seriously, these issues have been mostly ignored by candidates seemingly more focused on proving their tough-guy credentials on topics such as immigration or dealing with the global terrorist threat. And despite numerous televised national debates, the moderators have rarely seen fit to highlight these issues, as though they weren't an entertaining fit for Republicans.

We agree with McCain: It's hard to overstate the potential consequences of more of the same politics that have led to one missed opportunity after another during the past decade. The hand-in-hand importance of energy independence and doing everything we can as soon as possible to slow down the runaway train of greenhouse gas emissions are uniquely connected to the future of the nation's economy, our national security and global stability.

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