Vice-Presidential Debate: Palin vs. Biden On Global Warming

In the Vice Presidential debate earlier this evening, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden each had a strong point of view on global warming. Gwen Ifill, the moderator, specifically questioned Palin about her views on carbon emissions and Biden about his view on clean coal technology.

Here are some key excerpts from the debate:

Sarah Palin

• She confirmed that John McCain wants to put a cap on carbon emissions.
• She said that the nation had to become “energy independent,” conserving fuel and clean up the planet.
• She talked of America’s cry for tapping into domestic energy sources, saying they support a “drill, baby, drill” attitude as a measure for becoming energy independent
• She criticized Biden for an overheard comment he made on a rope line that appeared to contradict Barack Obama’s support of building clean coal plants.

Joe Biden

• He said that the problem of climate change was “man-made.”
• He attacked Palin, saying if you don’t know what the cause is, how can you solve the problem?
• He confirmed that we need to invest in renewable energy and clean coal. Also that we need to export technology to countries like China to help them clean up their coal plants.
• He said that drilling is not the immediate answer.

I thought that the argument about clean coal was particularly interesting. Biden’s comment on the rope line was in response to a young voter, who had asked him why he and Obama support clean coal.

“We’re not supporting clean coal,” Biden responded, “China’s going to burn 300 years of bad coal unless we figure out how to clean their coal up, because it’s going to ruin your lungs, and there’s nothing we can do about it. No coal plants here in America. Build ’em, if they’re gonna build ’em, over there and make ’em clean because they’re killing you.”

The Obama campaign, attacked for Biden’s comments, reiterated Obama’s and Biden’s support of clean coal technology, however the contradiction between that position and Biden’s remarks to the voter on the rope line remained unresolved. In tonight’s debate, Biden defended himself by asking Gwen Ifill to examine his record on clean coal and stating that his comment made at a rope line was taken out of context: . “I was talking about exporting that technology to China so when they burn their dirty coal it won’t be as dirty, it will be clean.”

What do you think? Will a McCain-Palin or a Obama-Biden government really make a difference when it comes to global warming?

Photo credit: www.wsj.com

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