John McCain, the Republican party’s all-but-certain nomination for US President, has moved to boost his domestic credentials on climate change policy, reiterating his support for hard reductions of US greenhouse gas emissions, a national carbon trading scheme and a new global climate treaty.
But his speech while visiting a renewable energy wind farm in Oregon also contained a sobering reality check on the chances of a new global agreement to follow on from the Kyoto Protocol being reached.
McCain said he would vigorously pursue a “meaningful” new international climate agreement. "The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington. I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto," McCain said.
But he took a hard line on the matching obligations he would require from developing nations, which he said should be based on “the principle of equal treatment”. “Least of all should we make exceptions for the very countries that are accelerating carbon emissions while the rest of us seek to reduce emissions,'' McCain said.
Fast-growing China and India lead developing nations in rejecting the hard emission reduction targets that apply to developed countries, saying they cannot allow such restrictions to retard economic growth which is lifting their peoples out of poverty.
McCain’s domestic policy platform holds support for national carbon caps and trading, but political commentators have expressed doubts McCain would stick to the policy if elected President. The policy is in direct contrast to George W. Bush’s stance, consistently rejecting emission caps and the participation in the Kyoto Protocol.
Bloomberg, Reuters 12.5.08
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