At the democratic convention last month, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer said Republican presidential nominee John McCain's congressional actions towards clean energy and environmental protection were inconsistent with his campaign promises of environmental stewardship . "John McCain voted 25 times against renewable and alternative energy. Against clean biofuels. Against solar power. Against wind energy."
After the speech, most news coverage relied on this AP FactCheck article disputing the general concept, while not refuting the vote number. But closer scrutiny of his voting reveals that he voted against sustainable legislation or said he would have done so, more than 50 times, as indicated by his votes listed below.
As a long time clean-energy legislation activist, I am familiar with most clean-energy votes in the Senate, and am familiar with McCain's votes going back to the Clinton administration. McCain's votes have been very consistently against solar, wind, geothermal, ocean, biotech and any other clean energy, and against any government support, other than for nuclear power.
In this unscripted chat caught on youtube: McCain explains that "clean energy like solar and wind are ineffective against climate change". McCain has many times expressed his sincere belief that only nuclear power can reduce greenhouse gases. Given those beliefs, his votes do make sense.
McCain does believe climate change is real. He wants to invest $4 trillion in nuclear power and supports cap-and-trade only if it has enough nuclear funding. No other Senator supports spending this much for one energy source. The Republican ticket has a record of being friendlier towards continuing oil and coal subsidies and is opposed to a cap-and-trade system, as it means taking money from oil and coal to fund it. The Democrats support clean energy subsidies and funding them by taxing carbon sources, such as oil and coal, to reduce carbon emissions.
McCain-Lieberman 2005, vote number 33, a significant piece of legislation that would have established the first caps on greenhouse gas emissions, failed in part because of the strong support for nuclear. Inhofe supports nuclear power, but even he voted against this much funding.
This is also why McCain-Lieberman never made it to the Senate floor for a vote in '07, despite the publicity. Boxer-Sanders, Kerry-Snowe and Warner-Lieberman, other climate change bills that didn't make it to a vote, also lost McCain's support because he felt they didn't have enough nuclear power subsidies in them. Environment Committee Chair Boxer increased nuclear funding considerably to get McCains vote on Warner-Lieberman, but she did not increase it enough for him, and Warner-Lieberman never made it to the floor for a vote.
In this list of votes, as a reference point, I include the votes of Senators Boxer and Inhofe for each example. Boxer is the most environmentally "correct" in the Senate and Inhofe's stance that "global warming is a giant hoax" holds up the other end of the voting continuum.
I noted party sponsorship of bills (D) or (R) to assess his bipartisanship. Two of the most common misconceptions about McCain's stance on clean energy are that he supports clean energy, and that he crosses the aisle. While it is indeed accurate that McCain does believe climate change is real, thus allying him with the Democrats, his voting record shows that he does not support clean energy to solve it, but relies on nuclear power alone. Surprisingly, he actually crosses the aisle less than even Inhofe.
Summary
McCain voted with Boxer 0 out of 50 times.
McCain voted with Inhofe 42 out of 44 times unless Inhofe voted with Boxer - votes 33, 34.
McCain voted with Republicans unless they voted with Democrats - votes 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 and 35.
1. '93 (D) Exempt clean energy from new Clinton/Gore BTU tax
Boxer Yes
Inhofe not yet in congress - every Republican voted No
McCain No
passed 55-43
2. '93 (D) Clinton/Gore BTU tax
Boxer Yes
Inhofe not yet in congress - only two Republicans voted Yes
McCain No
passed 57-41
3. '94 (D) Make R&D tax credit permanent
Boxer Yes
Inhofe not yet in congress - only 2 Republicans voted Yes
McCain No
passed 57-41
4. '94 (D) Clinton/Gore funding for advanced clean tech research
Boxer Yes
Inhofe not yet in congress - only 2 Republicans voted Yes
McCain No
passed 59-40
5. '94 (D) Weaken EPA if it costs polluters
Boxer No
Inhofe not yet in congress - only 3 Republicans voted no
McCain Yes
passed 90-8
6. '94 (R) Let coal states fail Clean Water Act
Boxer No
Inhofe not yet in congress - most Republicans voted Yes
McCain Yes
failed 28-67
7. '95 (R) Disregard ("table") requirement for nuclear waste cleanup
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
passed 57-40
8. '96 (D) Improve environmental standards for subsidy eligibility
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 57-39
9. '96 (D) EPA cleanup of toxic sites
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 81-19 (most Republicans crossed the aisle: not McCain)
10. '96 (D) Fund home energy efficiency assistance
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 77-23 (many Republicans joined Democrats: not McCain)
11. '96 (R) Gut nuclear waste disposal laws
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
passed 63-37
12. '96 (D) Discard McCain amendment to gut passenger rail
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 82-17 (most Republicans voted against McCain)
13. '97 (R) Stop funding cellulosic ethanol R&D
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
failed 30-69
14. '98 (R) Cellulosic ethanol subsidy
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 71-26 (most Republicans voted against McCain)
15. '99 (R) Stop subsidising biogas development
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
failed 23-77 (most Republicans voted against him)
16. '00 (R) Overide Clinton veto of unregulated nuclear disposal
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
failed 64-35 need 66 to overide veto
17. '01 (D) Tax credits for clean energy R&D
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 46-54
18. '01 (R) Drill off Florida coast
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
passed 67-33
19. '02 (R) Drop incentive for combined-cycle heat and power
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
failed 37-60
20. '02 (D) Require utilities buy 20% clean energy : 20% RPS
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 29-70
21. '02 (R) Reduce 20% RPS requirement
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
failed 40-58
22. '02 (R) Waive 20% RPS if utilities complain
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
failed 37-58
23. '02 (D) Weaken appliance efficiency requirement
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
passed 52-47
24. '03 (D) Make Coal Companies clean up toxic sludge
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 43-56
25. '03 (D) Restore funding for (levies) Army Corps of Engineers
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 51-48
26. '03 (D) Increase fuel efficiency requirement
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 32-65
27. '05 (D) Increase clean energy R&D funding
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 53-46
28. '05 (R) Appoint Stephen L. Johnson to head EPA
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
passed 61-37
29. '05 (D) Clean energy incentives
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 47-53
30. '05 (D) Require utilities buy some clean energy: RPS
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 52-48
31. '05 (D) Tax oil company windfall profits rebates to consumer
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 35-64
32. '05 (D) Tax oil companies windfall profits to fund clean energy
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 41-65
33. '05 (R) Cap and trade to fund nuclear McCain-Lieberman
Boxer No
Inhofe No
McCain Yes
failed 38-60
34. '05 (R) Let wind NIMBYs prevent wind development
Boxer No
Inhofe No
McCain Yes
failed 32-63
35. '05 (R-D) Energy funding for both fossil and clean energy
Boxer Yes
Inhofe Yes
McCain No
passed 85-12 (McCain in tiny minority)
36. '05 (D) Tax oil to fund energy efficiency assistance
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 48-50
37. '07 (D) Cloture vote tax incentives for clean energy
Boxer Not present
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 57-36
38. '07 (D) Cloture vote tax incentives for clean energy
Boxer Not present
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 62-32
39. '07 (D) Tax incentives for clean energy
Boxer Not present
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 65-27
40. '07 (D) To expand liquid natural gas development
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 37-56
41. '07 (R) Inhofe Coal-to-liquids fuel subsidy
Boxer No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Not present
failed 43-52
42. '07 (D) Ensure that only clean fuels be subsidized
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 58-34
43. '07 (D) Include RPS in final energy bill
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 56-39
44. '07 (D) Cloture to vote on bioenergy funding
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed cloture 55-42 (cloture needs 60)
45. '07 (D) Cloture to vote on 2007 Energy Bill included PTC
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 53-42 (cloture needs 60)
46. '07 (D) Cloture 2007 Energy Bill including PTC - solar and wind incentives
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present failed by one vote* 59-41 (cloture needs 60)
47. '07 (D) Dismembered 2007 Energy Bill: just CAFE
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 86-8
48. '08 (D) Cloture vote on extending PTC - solar and wind incentives
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 51-43 (cloture needs 60)
49. '07 (D) Cloture to extend the PTC - solar and wind incentives
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 52-44
50. '08 (D) Cloture to extend the PTC - solar and wind incentives
Boxer Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed cloture 53-43
I count the recent campaign-related absences as No since McCain told reporters that he would not have broken earlier Republican filibusters on these same clean energy votes, and his previous vote history indeed reflects that.
I have not included all 8 times the Democrats attempted to pass the production tax credit for solar and wind since taking a slim 51-49 majority, because in desperation Democrats also tacked the PTC onto multipurpose bills, muddying our view of his possible motivations for votes.
However, even without these included, it appears that Governor Schweitzer's was an understatement.
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