Has vs. Would

Week 6, Item 9
By, Stacy Jelke


I was looking through the issues regarding global warming and the environment and the two candidate's standings with each. I came across quite a funny outlook. Being someone who doesnt entirely know everything about each candidate's past and their positions on the future, I came to the conclusion that Sen. Obama uses the word "would " to begin a large majority of his sentences, I decided it may be probable that because he really only spent about 100 days in the Senate before he decided to run for President of the United States, therefore, he was left with a very short number of days to actually implement or establish any act or bill. For instance....

Senator Obama....
"Would implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists. Would make the United States a leader in the global effort to combat climate change by leading anew international global warming partnership. Would establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to speed the introduction of low-carbon non-petroleum fuels. Would create a Technology Transfer program within the Department of Energy dedicated to exporting climate-friendly technologies to developing countries. Would offer incentives to maintain forests globally and manage them sustainably. Would develop domestic incentives that reward forest owners, farmers and ranchers when they plant trees, restore grasslands or undertake farming practices that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.environment.html


Sen McCain however, HAS ALREADY implemented the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act in 2007. The is basically "A bill to provide for a program to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by establishing a market-driven system of greenhouse gas tradeable allowances, to support the deployment of new climate change-related technologies, and to ensure benefits to consumers from the trading in such allowances, and for other purposes."
Introduced on 1/12/07, this Act will direct the "Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and maintain the National Greenhouse Gas Database to collect, verify, and analyze information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."

It also establishes a "program for market-driven reduction of GHGs through the use of tradeable allowances." It will require certain "covered entities that own or control a source of GHG emissions in the electric power, industrial, and commercial sectors of the U.S. economy to submit to the Administrator, beginning in 2012, one tradeable allowance for every metric ton of GHGs emitted." It requires the "Administrator to establish a declining cap on tradeable allowances to reduce GHG emissions over time. Allows tradeable allowances to be sold, exchanged, purchased, retired, borrowed, offset, or otherwise used as permitted by this Act."

The act also proposes to aid in enhancing studies, research and technologies to help get these emissions lower.

This was just a summary of what McCain's plan imposed, how it was carried out and how it will be carried out in the future. Much like McCain, Obama wants to use the cap-and-trade plan, so really my research has led me to believe McCain and Obama hardly differ on their plans to reduce global warming, however, what I do find different in their plans, is their experience levels. What they HAVE done already is more important to me than what they SAY they will do in the future.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-280&tab=summary