McCain calls for energy-efficient government
By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press
June 25, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) -- Republican John McCain said Tuesday the federal government should practice the energy efficiency he preaches, pledging as president to switch official vehicles to green technologies and do the same for office buildings.

Expanding upon his ideas to address the nation's energy crisis, the Arizona senator also called for a redesign of the national power grid so power is better distributed where it's needed and the country has the capacity to run electric vehicles that he wants automakers to supply.

''Our federal government is never shy about instructing the American people in good environmental practice. But energy efficiency, like charity, should begin at home,'' McCain said before conducting an energy round-table at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

McCain drives a 2003 Cadillac CTS, a sedan the Environmental Protection Agency says gets 16 to 24 miles per gallon and emits about 9.6 tons of greenhouse gases annually. When campaigning, he's ferried by the Secret Service using a fleet of Chevrolet Suburbans, a full-size SUV the EPA estimates gets 12 to 20 mpg and emits 9 to 13 tons of greenhouse gases.

During the discussion, McCain made a comment likely to provoke discussion in Nevada, where he campaigns Wednesday and is the site of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. McCain long has supported the facility, much to the chagrin of pivotal Nevada voters, although last month he suggested creating a foreign waste repository that might make the mountain site unnecessary.

McCain reiterated his support Tuesday for building up to 45 new nuclear power plants and said the technology exists for safe nuclear waste reprocessing and storage.

''It's not a technological breakthrough that needs to be taken; it's a NIMBY problem,'' he said, using the acronym for ''Not-In-My-Backyard.'' ''We've got to have the guts and courage to do what other countries are doing, and they are reducing the pollution to our environment rather dramatically without any huge pain to anybody.''

Later in the day, during a telephone town-hall meeting with Florida voters, a mother of two sons asked McCain under what circumstances he could envision a return to a military draft.

The Vietnam veteran said none, ''except perhaps if we were in an all-out World War III. ... I do not believe a draft is even practicable nor desirable unless it was an all-out world war.''

Among those on the energy panel was Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a McCain backer who opposes another major element of the candidate's energy strategy -- ending a decades-old federal ban on offshore drilling. McCain has said he would leave the decision to the states if the moratorium were lifted.

''John and I both know we can protect our environment and our economy at the same time,'' Schwarzenegger said in his opening remarks. He did not mention offshore drilling.

''I have every confidence that once Senator McCain is in the White House, America will get back in the game when it comes to a sensible, consistent and forward-looking energy policy,'' Schwarzenegger added.

Offshore drilling is particularly sensitive in this coastal community 100 miles north of Los Angeles, where a 1969 oil spill dumped an estimated 3 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean.

Despite emphasizing the optional nature of his proposal, McCain has heard complaints about it throughout his two days of campaigning in California, a Democratic-leaning state the GOP hopes to put in play in the general election.

''We're really kind of goosey here about oil spills, and we're goosey here about federal drilling and oil lands, which are abundant offshore,'' Dan Secord, a member of the California Coastal Commission, told McCain during a Santa Barbara fundraiser Monday night.

McCain acknowledged offshore drilling would do little to immediately lower record gasoline prices, but he argued that the specter of additional supply would undercut speculation that has driven the price to more than $4 a gallon.

''Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial,'' the senator said during a town-hall meeting in Fresno.

His Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, criticized McCain's claim of a psychological benefit as political posturing.

''In case you're wondering, in Washington-speak what that means is it polls well. It's an example of how Washington tries to convince you that they've done something to make your life better when they really didn't,'' said Obama, who was campaigning in Las Vegas.

''The American people don't need psychological relief or meaningless gimmicks ... they need real relief that will help them fill up their tanks and put food on the table,'' Obama said.

During the round-table discussion, McCain received some of the straight talk for which he has a reputation.

Michael Feeney, executive director of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, was unyielding in his criticism of McCain's call for building 45 nuclear power plants and drilling offshore.

''I don't understand how it's not compromising our environmental standards to propose a crash program to build more nuclear power plants, when the industry has not complied with the federal law that requires the safe disposal for the radioactive waste,'' Feeney said.

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He is an environmentalist, you know.