John McCain and Barack Obama both support some type of cap and trade system related to carbon emissions. So when the McCain campaign tries to attack Obama on the possibility that new coal plants that don't prevent carbon emissions will face higher costs, they intentionally ignore that McCain has stated that his plan will do the same EXACT thing.
If a company ignores the problem of global warming, McCain said "a utility that builds a new coal plant..would be doing a disservice both to their customers and stockholders." McCain further said these would be "decisive economic incentives." So if someone attempts to build a new plant that ignores climate change, McCain would use "decisive economic" actions that would financially hurt the company. Using market forces to deal with climate change-Obama and McCain have suggested the same tactic.
McCain says that his cap and trade program will subject new coal plants to "decisive economic incentives." And by incentives, McCain is not talking about a positive thing, he is talking about the significant costs of carbon credits. Just like Obama.
You can see that in the following McCain statement that a "utility that builds a new coal plant without factoring in the inevitable curbs on carbon emissions necessary to combat climate change or the market opportunities of limiting such emissions would be doing a disservice both to their customers and stockholders."
Q.12: More than 100 new coal fired power plants are being planned in the United States. It is important that all new investments in power plants and other long-lived assets use the most advanced technology available, rather than lock in decades of excessive pollution. To accomplish this, each new plant should be required to capture and safely dispose of its global warming pollution.
Would you support legislation that requires each new power plant to capture and safely dispose of its global warming pollution?
"I support a national greenhouse gas emission cap and trade regimen that includes responsible emission limits and allows market forces to determine how best to meet them. Such a regimen will provide a decisive economic incentive for power producers to maximize the capture of carbon emissions. Clearly, a utility that builds a new coal plant without factoring in the inevitable curbs on carbon emissions necessary to combat climate change or the market opportunities of limiting such emissions would be doing a disservice both to their customers and stockholders. Accordingly, I believe that new coal plants should be constructed in a manner that is capture-ready, and can accommodate the retrofit of this technology as it advances."
http://presidentialprofiles2008.org/...
America can and should debate the role of coal in our energy policy.
But to claim that Obama wants to destroy the coal industry when McCain admits his policy would have the same financial threats to new coal plants that ignore the potential problems of climate change is just a proven lie.