Bush v. Gore in 2000- Energy Proposals - Does McCain's Proposals Sound Familiar?

[Median Democrat]

If you feel like you are experiencing deja vu listening to John McCain's drill here, drill now rhetoric, its because you have heard it before, back in 2000. McCain probably does not even need to write any speeches, just dust off Bush's old speeches.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E0D91F3AF93AA1575AC0A9669C8B63

/snip

With oil prices up, consumers agitated and the winter heating season looming, Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush are going at it on energy policy, seeking to draw sharp distinctions over an issue on which both candidates have political vulnerabilities.

It is a topic that the two parties see as touching consumers every time they fill up at the pump or adjust their thermostats, and one that is inextricably linked to broader environmental, foreign policy and economic issues.

Mr. Gore forced the topic back onto the campaign agenda last week with his call, acceded to by President Clinton, for the government to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to head off shortages of home heating oil -- an action that both the president and the vice president had opposed earlier in the year. Mr. Bush, who criticized the decision as a political ploy to drive down prices just ahead of Election Day, is scheduled to discuss energy policy in a speech on Friday.

The most basic question facing the country on energy is how to keep supply and demand in line. Mr. Bush, like most Republicans, emphasized finding new oil and ensuring a flow from other oil-producing nations. Mr. Gore, like many Democrats, focuses on trying to use less energy, or at least on using existing energy supplies as efficiently as possible.

''In very simple terms, the Republicans would approach an energy problem from the supply side: 'What can we do to increase supply?' '' said Robert E. Ebel, director of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ''The Democrats would say: ''What can we do to make better use of what we've got?' ''

There are a number of other clearly defined differences between them. Mr. Gore sees global warming as a serious threat, and strongly backs an international agreement reached three years ago in Kyoto, Japan, which calls for substantial reductions in emissions of industrial gases from burning coal, oil, wood and natural gas. Mr. Bush acknowledges that global warming is a potential problem, but says the Kyoto agreement would be too costly to the United States and would not ensure that developing countries do their part.

Mr. Bush, who worked for years in the oil industry and whose running mate, Dick Cheney, ran an oil field services company, supports opening some environmentally sensitive areas, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, to oil exploration and production. Mr. Gore opposes such steps.

/snip

BTW Big Media will never, of course, point out that John McCain's energy plan is George Bush's energy plan. Or, the fact that Bush's plan is a complete failure.

[Eric J in MN]

1. Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell pointed out tonight...

...from the convention podium that McCain's energy promises are similar to Bush's 2000 promises, but the actual records of Bush and McCain are bad.

[Median Democrat]

2. CNN Was Interviewing Rudy At That Point

I got to here Rendell on CSPAN. The Big Media cover-up continues.