The Democratic Party

John McCain Adds Two More Flip-Flops to the Collection

Posted by Matt Ortega on June 17, 2008 at 01:35 PM

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In addition to the flip-flop on the offshore drilling moratorium, John McCain added two other flip-flops on energy and the environment.

McCain made a major shift in his global warming agenda on cap and trade and redefining the word "mandatory." In a press conference yesterday morning, John McCain said, "I believe in the cap-and-trade system, as you know. I would not at this time make those -- impose a mandatory cap at this time." Gristmill finds this at odds with his own emissions plan.

Which is, of course, completely out of line with his own proposal for a cap-and-trade scheme, both the plan he proposed with Joe Lieberman last year and his own presidential plan, released last month. They both would, by nature, be mandatory -- hence the "cap" in the name. This isn't the first time McCain has misunderstood his own policy on cap-and-trade. In the Republican debate in Florida in January, he also denied that his cap-and-trade program included a mandatory cap on carbon.
He also appeared confused about the definition of cap-and-trade in an interview with Greenwire ($ub req'd):

It's not quote mandatory caps. It's cap-and-trade, OK. It's not mandatory caps to start with. It's cap-and-trade. That's very different. OK, because that's a gradual reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions. So please portray it as cap-and-trade. That's the way I call it.

John McCain also attacked Senator Barack Obama on the windfall profits tax this morning.

He wants a windfall profits tax on oil, to go along with the new taxes he also plans for coal and natural gas. If the plan sounds familiar, it's because that was President Jimmy Carter's big idea too - and a lot of good it did us. Now as then, all a windfall profits tax will accomplish is to increase our dependence on foreign oil, and hinder exactly the kind of domestic exploration and production we need.

John McCain on the windfall profits tax on May 5:

I don't like obscene profits being made anywhere–and I'd be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax–that's not what bothers me–but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people, that or industries or corporations that are distorting the market.