Abstract

Kerry's Energy Plan

The author comments on John F. Kerry and his plan to end US dependence on Middle East oil. Elevating energy over the environment is shrewd politics for Kerry. True, George Bush has compiled the worst environmental record in modern American history, while Kerry has earned a 96 percent lifetime voting record from the League of Conservation Voters, a nonpartisan group in Washington that has now endorsed him. But the Kerry campaign recognizes that the environment is not a decisive issue for most voters. So rather than hammer Bush on environmental issues per se, Kerry will send a pro-environment--and pro-economic--message by talking about energy independence. In their newly released book, Our Plan for America, Kerry and running mate John Edwards call ending US dependence on Middle East oil one of the four most urgent challenges facing the nation (along with defeating terrorism, stopping the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and promoting democracy, freedom and opportunity around the world). Kerry recognizes that improving energy efficiency is the quickest and cheapest source of new energy.