Week 2 Question

Obama attributes environmental change to our demand of and reliance on oil. He has a detailed and well thought out plan for his solutions. I believe he sounds like a market liberal and an institutionalist. He takes a clear stand that the environment is an important issue without sounding alarmist. He offers many economic incentives for plans that improve the environment, such as incentives to farmers to restore grasslands. He also proposes large government investment in technology that will benefit the environment. These are all characteristics of market liberals. He is also an institutionalist when it comes to environmental change on an international level. He proposes international institutions, such as creating a new forum on global energy, to combat environmental change.

McCain seems to be a market liberal. He looks at environmental change through an economic lens. He argues that we need to care about the environment because our economy depends on it. He seems to be concerned but does not think there is an environmental crisis. He addresses this issue by proposing economic investment and incentive in technology that will solve environmental issues.

McCain had a much shorter and more vague stand on the environment. I think Obama's platform makes a lot more sense because his plan is much more thought out. McCain offers one or two vague sentences on what should be done but no actual plan. Also, Obama offers many more specific solutions, while McCain only has three. I think the categories is a good place to start when analyzing these two candidates' platforms but no one its into these categories perfectly.