SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Republican John McCain said Tuesday the federal government should practice the energy efficiency he preaches, pledging as president to switch official vehicles to green technologies and do the same for office buildings.
Expanding upon his ideas to address the nation’s energy crisis, the Arizona senator also called for a redesign of the national power grid so power is better distributed where it’s needed and the country has the capacity to run electric vehicles that he wants automakers to supply.
“Our federal government is never shy about instructing the American people in good environmental practice. But energy efficiency, like charity, should begin at home,” McCain said before conducting an energy round-table in Santa Barbara.
McCain drives a 2003 Cadillac CTS, a sedan the Environmental Protection Agency says gets 16 to 24 miles per gallon and emits about 9.6 tons of greenhouse gases annually.
During the discussion, McCain made a comment likely to provoke discussion in Nevada, where he campaigns today and the site of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. McCain long has supported the facility, much to the chagrin of pivotal Nevada voters, although last month he suggested creating a foreign waste repository that might make the mountain site unnecessary.
McCain reiterated his support Tuesday for building up to 45 new nuclear power plants and said the technology exists for safe nuclear waste reprocessing and storage.
“It’s not a technological breakthrough that needs to be taken; it’s a NIMBY problem,” he said, using the acronym for “not in my backyard.” “We’ve got to have the guts and courage to do what other countries are doing, and they are reducing the pollution to our environment rather dramatically without any huge pain to anybody.”
