Obama and the Environment

One of the biggest reasons I have been hesitant to support Obama is his questionable record on environmental issues. He has come out and supported some unfortunate things, like against reforming the 1872 Mining Act and supporting a coal liquification bill.

I still worry about these things. But Tom Konrad lines us the candidates statements and plans on energy issues and finds that Obama is by a significant margin the best. In his seven categories, Obama gets a B in five and a C in two. Edwards gets an A in energy efficiency but an F in transport fuels and coal. Clinton is mostly a C and D student in these things.

This kind of real analysis matters a lot to me. I feel a lot more comfortable supporting Obama knowing that he may not be a great leader on environmental matters at this point, but he is solid and solid is a whole lot better than what we have now.

It is also worth noting that the only Republican Konrad takes serious enough on these issues to even bother grading is McCain, who doesn't fair all that great either.