Obama's Celebrity Cred

As we read Obama's response, he is rejecting a tax on wind energy, saying that taxing "dirty energy" is a better option, and then he is rejecting both notions by saying "the real way" is for local communities to "step up" and pay for education with "no shortcuts." Obama's phrasing does leave room for interpretation, but to our ears this is a feeble peg on which to hang a claim that Obama wants to "raise taxes on electricity."

We asked the McCain campaign if it had any other information on which to base this "taxes on electricity" claim, and we received no response. We looked, but could find no instance of Obama making mention of a tax on electricity or any other reference to a "dirty energy" tax. In any case, no such policy proposals are currently part of his public platform.

Cap-and-Trade Programs Are Hott!
What was Obama talking about with his "dirty energy" remark? We asked campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor and got this response: "It was a reference to cap and trade. A position John McCain supports." And it's true that both McCain and Obama support cap-and-trade, which would indeed raise the price of electricity, whether one calls it a "tax" or not.

Cap-and-trade programs are designed to decrease the use of fossil fuels by requiring that industries (including power companies) cap their total carbon dioxide emissions. Companies would receive credits for CO2 emissions; any company that managed to stay under its quota would be permitted to sell its additional credits. The cap (or total number of credits issued) would shrink over time. Obama has proposed auctioning the initial credits, a policy that he says will generate revenue that can be invested into alternative energy research.

Eric Roston, of the nonpartisan Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, says that any cap-and-trade program will raise the cost of electricity. As he told FactCheck.org, "The goal of cap-and-trade is to make fossil fuels more expensive, which will make new technologies competitive with them." And since Obama would be auctioning credits, Roston says that it's "not unreasonable" to label Obama's program a tax.

Of course, by that standard, John McCain also favors raising taxes on electricity. McCain's Web site prominently proclaims his support for a cap-and-trade program, and in 2003, McCain and then-Democrat Joe Lieberman jointly sponsored legislation that would have implemented a cap-and-trade system.

Toxic Charges
We usually try to avoid writing articles about Hollywood's latest gossip, but in this case, we felt that the McCain campaign's choice of celebrities is worth a brief mention. In a conference call with reporters, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said the ad features Ms. Hilton and Ms. Spears because, on the listing of "three biggest international celebrities in the world," they rank second and third. We'll leave it to you to judge how up-to-date the McCain campaign's celebrity meter is. But we will note that, in a lucky coincidence, Spears and Hilton also topped an AP poll for "worst celebrity role model." That connection appears to be deliberate. When asked whether the campaign intended to imply that Obama is as "frivolous and irresponsible" as Spears or Hilton, Rogers replied, "I think that's exactly what we've been saying."

If McCain's aides believe that Barack Obama is like Britney Spears, that's their prerogative.

Reprinted with the permission of .

Sources
"The Lexington Project: Breaking Our Dependence on Foreign Oil." 2008. JohnMcCain.com. 30 July 2008.

Associated Press. "Britney Tops Poll of Worst Celebrity Role Models." 28 December 2006. MSNBC.com. 30 July 2008.

Guerra, Carlos. "Q&A With Sen. Barack Obama." 19 February 2008. The San Antonio News-Express. 30 July 2008.

S.139: The Climate Stewardship Act of 2003. 9 January 2003. 30 July 2008.

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