A Look at Obama and McCain’s Voting Record on Energy

This is something of a follow up on yesterday’s report on quotes and statements on Energy policies By Barack Obama and John McCain. But today we are going to look at actual votes each of the two major party candidates as far as energy policies are concerned.

To begin with, know that the vast majority of the energy votes for the last two years have been in fact MISSED by both of these candidates. John McCain has missed all 15 of the energy related measures to reach the senate floor since august 2006, and Barack Obama has missed 9 of the last 15 energy related measures to reach the senate floor in the same time span.

Despite there chronic campaign influenced absences, they have been on the floor a total of 11 times in the last few years to vote on energy related bills at the same time. I am going to go over a few of them, to show how they voted, and how much they vary when it comes to actual legislative actions.

3/16/2005; Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act: S 3711: A bill to enhance the energy independence and security of the United States by providing for exploration, development, and production activities for mineral resources in the Gulf of Mexico, and for other purposes.

This bill was touted as a remedy to the high cost of energy, via drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, hence the Bill’s title. A complete summary of the bill can be found here. If you have the time and patience, here is a complete list of every speech given on or about this bill.

Given their stances now, it is not suprising that Obama voted no and McCain voted yes. This Amendment was rejected 51-49.

3/16/2006; LIHEAP Funding Amendment: S Amdt 3074 to S Con Res 83: To increase funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program by $3,318,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, increasing the funds available to carry out that program to the fully authorized level of $5,100,000,000, to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.

This was a non binding resolution that set funding levels for discretionary spending. It passed 51-49 with the help of four Republican senators voting with the Democrats.

Obama voted yes. McCain voted No.

6/28/2005; Energy Policy Act of 2005: HR 6: To ensure jobs for our future with secure, affordable, and reliable energy.

This bill had a Large amount of provisions to it. A few for your perusal:

- Coordinates an Outer Continental Shelf mapping initiative, as well as a federal inventory of natural gas and oil reserves located in that area

- Requires a gradual increase in the amount of renewable fuels used in gasoline, such as ethanol, from four billion gallons in 2006 to at least eight billion gallons in 2012

- Directs the President, within one year of enactment, to develop and implement plans to reduce the United States’ demand for petroleum by one million barrels per day from the amount projected for 2015

- $18 million over three years for nuclear energy research programs, including one that examines designs for high-temperature reactors capable of producing pure hydrogen

Barack Obama Voted Yes on this. John McCain Voted no. It passed the Senate 85-12. The no votes were pretty evenly split, 7 Republicans, 5 Democrats.

Draw your own conclusions as to which man voted in a more ethical manner. What i am trying to do here is draw attention to what these men have actually done. Talk is cheap, and this article is about walking the walk and how each man showed his true colors when push came to shove on the senate floor when your energy dollars were on the line.

In four of the six votes, the first two bills mentioned, these two men each followed the party line. The final vote had bipartisan support. The final bill was by far the most comprehensive and most sweeping in scope. Senator McCain believed this bill did not serve the present or future needs of the nation and would only saddle us with debt while making us more dependent on foreign oil…despite the planned reduction of petroleum use by 1,000,000 barrels of oil a day put in the bill, and the doubling of renewable fuels used in gasoline in a 6 year time span.

You make the call as to whether he was right or not. Do you see the facts as set out in their voting record affecting their perception by the voting public? Do you think the lack of recent voting on both of their parts, but in particular John McCain lack of votes over two years, will have a palpable effect on voters perceptions of their energy proposals? Drop me a Line and let me Know!

Uncle Mikey