New McCain Economic Plan: More Gas Guzzlers

Posted by Josh Dorner, Sierra Club at 6:00 PM on September 19, 2008.

In the midst of our ever-deepening economic crisis, John "the fundamentals of our economy our strong"  McCain unveiled his most ridiculous economic plan yet: sell more gas guzzlers.

McCain unveiled a new ad yesterday called "Michigan Jobs." The ad is so full of lies, deceptions, and failed approaches to our most pressing problems, it's hard to know where to even begin. His simple-minded pandering is an insult to the intelligence of Michiganders (and all Americans). I'll get to the gas guzzlers bit in a minute, but let's run through the ad's other distortions.

First, McCain trumpets his support for loans to help the auto industry. What he doesn't tell you is that he was opposed to helping the automakers until just last month when he looked at his standing in the polls start to slide.

The Sierra Club knows times are tough in Michigan and supports helping the automakers, so long as they are serious about using the loans to retool in order to make real improvements in fleet-wide fuel economy.)

McCain also trumpets his $5,000 tax credit for hybrid cars. Too bad Obama's is $7,000.

Barack Obama's plan: $150 billion investment in clean energy technologies, including giving automakers the help they need to double fuel economy and build the next generation of fuel-efficient vehicles right here in the U.S.

McCain's plan: run the economy like a game show, offering gimmicks like a $300 million prize for car batteries and a gas tax holiday ridiculed by over 230 leading economists.

Which brings us to his latest gambit: more gas guzzlers. The ad says "more offshore drilling to lower gas prices to spur truck sales." Too bad his plan won't do a thing to lower gas prices or solve Detroit's long-term problems.

This is the second McCain ad just this week to repeat the completely discredited claim that offshore drilling will lower gas prices. Even McCain himself has admitted that his drilling plan would merely offer "psychological relief."

He really needs to get his head checked if he thinks selling more gas guzzlers is the way forward. Autoworkers and auto execs alike understand that relying too heavily on gas guzzling trucks and SUVs is what got the auto industry into this mess in the first place. That's why they want help building the next generation of vehicles, not the vehicles of the 1990s.

The only thing more gas guzzlers would guarantee is higher gas bills for consumers and more oil dependence for America. This is just another sorry example of how John McCain just doesn't get it. All he has to offer is last year's solutions to today's problems.

Tagged as: energy, global warming, climate change, mccain, suv, trucks

Josh Dorner is a writer for the Sierra Club.