American politics update

Undoubtedly one of the best exercises to get into American politics is to watch the campaign for the election 2008 unfold

This offers students who are new to the subject an insight into a number of key topics that will be on the A2 American syllabus.

If you can find time to track the major US websites like washingtonpost.com or nytimes.com then that would be great. But even if your regular news diet is a leisurely read of a UK newspaper then there will undoubtedly be a great deal of coverage to be found that way as well.

For instance there is an analysis of the environmental positions of Barack Obama and John McCain in today’s Guardian.

You may be surprised to learn that in a country of gas guzzling SUVs the environment is fourth most important issue in determining how voters will cast their ballot in November. Unsurprisingly therefore both candidates are courting the environment vote strongly. So where does each stand?

The Guardian reports that:

“In broad terms, they follow the predilections of their own parties - McCain favouring the market, Obama regulation and state intervention. So while both subscribe to a system of cap-and-trade, where a ceiling on emissions is imposed on polluters, the details are telling.

Obama would require all firms to buy CO2 permits - a system known as 100% auctions - to raise income that could then be reinvested in clean energy. McCain would largely hand out the permits in the spirit of avoiding new taxes, keeping regulation to a minimum and trusting business to do the honourable thing. That distinction alone has won Obama the backing of leading environmental groups. “Permits are an entitlement to pollute, so anything less than 100% auctions amounts to a reward for polluting,” said Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth US.

Obama’s approach is to set targets. He wants a 10% reduction in vehicle emissions by 2020 and a further 1% every year thereafter. He would also force power companies to generate a quarter of their output through wind, solar and other renewables by 2025.

McCain eschews putting a figure to most of his policies. He has only one headline target - to reduce CO2 emissions by 65% on 1990 levels by 2050, compared with Obama’s more ambitious goal, in line with the thinking of many climate scientists, of 80%.

In the absence of targets, McCain says freeing up the market will unleash the power of innovation. That bears the hallmark of his main environmental adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who served as an economist in both Bush administrations. Rather than imposing change on car makers and power producers, Holtz-Eakin proposes tax rebates for consumers of low-emissions cars. The campaign has also offered a $300m (about £150m) prize for the inventor of the car battery of the future - an offer denounced by the Democrats as a gimmick.”

So do their Senate records suggest that the candidates will remain true to their word?

“McCain failed to turn up to all 15 major environmental votes in the Senate, pleading lack of time on the campaign trail (Obama made several of them) and a picture begins to emerge that is out of kilter with his pro-environmental reputation. The League of Conservation Voters, a non-partisan body that campaigns for an eco-friendly Congress, has awarded McCain 24 out of 100 points for his lifetime record, compared with 86 for Obama.”