DRILLING FOR McCAIN….Tom Friedman on John McCain’s election-year journey from environmental maverick to standard issue GOP shill for the energy industry:
Going into this election, I thought that — for the first time — we would have a choice between two “green” candidates. That view is no longer operative — and college students (and everyone else) need to understand that.
With his choice of Sarah Palin — the Alaska governor who has advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and does not believe mankind is playing any role in climate change — for vice president, John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president to just another representative of big oil.
As recently as six months ago McCain had a halfway decent energy plan. Not great, perhaps, but certainly courageous by Republican standards. But then he realized that he had an election to win and his energy plan was quickly replaced with “drill drill drill” — a slogan more suited to a cash-only storefront dentist than a serious presidential candidate. Straight talk indeed.
