McCain v. Obama

I decided to compare John McCain and Barack Obama for this assignment. After reading McCain's perspective on the environment, I would say that he's a market liberal. I say this because McCain talks about how the environment and the economy are "inextricably linked" and expresses the thought that, "a clean and healthy environment is well served by a strong economy." It appears as though he feels that we should work for a better environment by means of a stronger economy, and as Clapp and Dauvergne explain in our readings, market liberals see the way forward as promoting growth. McCain also talks about alleviating poverty which is a key aspect of the market liberal theory.

On the other hand, I would have to say that Obama is the closest to being a bioenvironmentalist. This is because bioenvironmentalists support limits to growth and reduced consumption which is illustrated in Obama's plan to reduce America's oil dependence as well as his cap and trade strategy. It was hard to place Obama distinctly in the bioenvironmentalist group because he didn't quite fit all of the descriptions. For example, he doesn't talk about limiting population growth, but overall I feel he fit best in this category.

In terms of talking the most sense on the environment, I would have to say Obama did a convincing job. A lot of McCain's claims for environmental improvements are broad and sound similar to many other politicians. I personally am looking for a different candidate with more dedication. Some of Obama's goals seem to be slightly traditional such as investing in clean energy, but he also mentions supporting next generation biofuels which shows more commitment.