Energy & Global Warming

2007
- CAFE & Energy Efficiency: McCain was absent when the Senate voted to invoke cloture, which limited debate and allowed the Senate to vote on final passage on the bill to raise fuel efficiency standards, establish energy efficiency standards for appliances and federal buildings, and promote renewable fuels.  YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #225, H.R.6, 6/21/07]

- CAFE & Energy Efficiency: McCain was absent when the Senate voted and approved H.R.
6, comprehensive energy legislation that most notably raised automobile fuel efficiency standards to 35 mpg by 2020.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call #226, H.R. 6, 6/21/07]

- Water Resources – Global Warming:  McCain was absent for an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act reauthorization bill that would require the I.S. Army Corps of Engineers  to consider the long and short-term effects of global climate change and to use the best available modern climate science in planning water projects. YES is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call vote #166, 05/05/07]

2005
+ Global Warming: McCain voted no on a motion to table a “Sense of the Senate” resolution that put the Senate on record agreeing that global warming is real and that mandatory limits are necessary to slow, stop, and reverse the growth of global warming pollution.  NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #149, Amendment 866, 6/22/05]

+ Oil Company Tax Credits: McCain voted yes on the Feinstein amendment to repeal tax breaks that allow major oil companies to deduct costs associated with exploration and development in a single year, lowering their effective tax rate. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #332, S.2020 Amendment 2609, 11/17/05]

+ Energy Policy: McCain voted no on H.R. 6 Energy Conference Report, which dropped ANWR drilling but weakened key environmental protections for oil and gas drilling, added billions in new subsidies for coal, oil and nuclear power, allowed harmful underwater oil and gas testing in currently protected coastal areas, and stripped states and local governments of the authority to site liquefied natural gas facilities and transmission lines.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call #213, H.R. 6, 7/29/05]

2004
+ Energy Policy: McCain voted no on cloture to prevent debate on an amendment that would have undermined the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act as well as eliminate a program for increasing energy efficiency in federal buildings. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #74, S. 150 Amendment 3051, 4/29/04]

2003
- Energy Policy: McCain voted against cloture on the anti-environmental energy conference report, which would have given tax breaks and subsidies to the coal, oil, nuclear, and natural gas industries, weakened the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, allowed oil companies to drill on public lands for free, and allowed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #456, H.R. 6, 11/21/03]

+ Global Warming: Senators McCain and Lieberman offered (and voted for) their Climate Stewardship Act, which required power plants and oil companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2010, as an amendment to the Senate energy bill. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #420, S.139, 10/30/03]

1992
- Energy Policy: McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would have required the Secretary of Energy to establish voluntary energy savings targets for energy-intensive industries and to initiate an industrial energy-use reporting program for large and medium-sized companies. NO is the pro-environment vote [2/19/92]

1989
- Oil Spills: McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would require double-hulls on all new tankers over 20,000 gross tons in order to prevent oil spills. NO is the pro-environment vote. [S.686]

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards

Also see 2007 under Energy & Global Warming

2005
+ McCain voted no an amendment to allow continue allowing automakers to make fewer high-mileage cars if they also make vehicles that run on both ethanol and gasoline and would also make it harder for the Department of Transportation to set future CAFÉ standards.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [Senate Roll Call #156, 6/23/05]

- Later that day, McCain voted no on an amendment that would have raised the CAFE standard for cars, SUVs, and minivans to 40 miles per gallon by 2015, saving 3.1 million barrels of oil a day by 2020—as much oil as the U.S. currently imports from the Persian Gulf and could extract from the Arctic Refuge and the California outer continental shelf, combined—and would have annually kept more than 500 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Senate Roll Call #157, H.R.6 amendment 902, 6/23/05]

2003
- CAFE: McCain voted no on an amendment to raise the CAFE standard for cars and light trucks to 490 mpg by 2015. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call 309, S. 14, 7/29/03]

2002
+ McCain voted no on an amendment that would strike a provision to raise the standard to 36 mpg by 2015 and direct the Department of Transportation to set a new standard within 15 months. NO is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call #47, S. 517, 3/13/02]

1999
- McCain was absent when the Senate voted on a resolution expressing that the freeze on CAFE standards should end. YES is the pro-environment vote. [9/15/99]

1991
- McCain voted yes on an amendment to give states money for using more fuel; states investing is mass transit, car polling, HOV lanes, and programs to control congestion, energy consumption, and pollution would have their allocation of transportation funds decreased. NO is the pro-environment vote. [S.1204, 6/18/91]

1990
+ McCain voted yes to end an industry-backed filibuster of the Bryan bill, which would improve automobile efficiency 40% by 2000. YES is the pro-environment vote. [1990]
 
Renewable Energy

2007
- McCain was absent when the Senate voted to table an amendment that would have allowed conventional and polluting sources of energy, such as coal-fired power plants and nuclear power, to qualify for credits under the national renewable electricity standard. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #211, H. R. 6, 6/14/07]

- McCain was absent when the Senate failed to override the filibuster against the renewable
electricity standard and again when the Senate failed by one vote to repeal billions of dollars in subsidies to big oil in order to fund clean energy. YES is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call #416, H.R. 6, 12/7/07 and Roll Call #425, H.R. 6, 12/13/07]

- Oil Refineries: McCain was absent when the Senate voted on an amendment that would have eliminated public health and environmental permitting procedures for new or expanded oil refineries, coal-to-liquid refineries and ethanol or bio-diesel plants and would have replaced all state and federal approvals with a single “consolidated” permit, set arbitrary deadlines for approving permits, barred state courts from reviewing permitting decisions, and limited challenges brought in federal court. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #210, H.R. 6, 6/13/07]

2005
- McCain voted no on an amendment that would require electric utilities to produce 10% of their electricity from clean, renewable sources by 2020. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #141, H.R. 6, 6/16/05]

2003
+ McCain voted yes on an amendment ensuring that companies remain fully liable for problems caused by renewable fuels and additives. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #208, S. 14, 6/5/03]

2002
+ McCain voted no on an a motion to table an amendment that would have ensured that renewable fuels are not subject to a lesser liability standard than other motor vehicle fuels or additives. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #87, S. 517, 4/25/02]

- McCain voted yes on an amendment that would replace a 10% renewable energy standard with a provision for utilities to offer electricity from renewable sources only to the extent available. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #55, S. 517, 3/21/02]

- McCain voted no on an amendment to raise the renewable energy standard from 10% to 20%, a level that the Department of Energy believes is both affordable and feasible. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #50, S. 517, 3/14/02]

1999
- McCain voted yes to block an amendment that would add $62 million to the Energy Department’s solar and renewable energy programs. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Energy and Water appropriations, 6/16/99]

1994
- McCain voted yes on a motion to table an amendment that would have added $33 million to renewable programs and decreased spending for nuclear weapons. NO is the pro-environment vote. [H.R. 4506, 6/30/94]
 
Offshore Oil Drilling

2007
- McCain was absent when the Senate voted on an amendment that would have authorized Virginia to petition for natural gas drilling and exploration in its coastal waters. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #212, H.R. 6, 6/14/07]

2006
- McCain was absent when the Senate voted to end debate on a bill that would open up 8 million acres off the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana for oil and gas drilling. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call 208, S. 3711, 7/31/2006]

- McCain voted yes to open up 8 million acres of previously protected offshore areas to oil and gas drilling. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call Vote #219, S.3711, 8/2/06]

2003
+ McCain voted yes on an amendment to strike an inventory of the potential for oil and gas resources of the entire Outer Continental Shelf from the energy bill. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #221, S. 14, 6/12/03]

2001
- McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would prevent oil and gas leasing off the east coast of the Gulf of Mexico. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #231, H.R. 2217, 7/12/01]

1994
- McCain voted no to on a vote to table an amendment that would provide an economic windfall to the oil industry. YES is the pro-environment vote. [S.318, 5/18/94]

1992
- McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would have protected the Outer Continental Shelf from oil and gas exploration and strengthen the role of coastal states in federal offshore drilling decisions. NO is the pro-environment vote. [2/19/92]
 
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

2006
- McCain voted yes to count revenues from Arctic drilling as part of the budget. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call 74, 3/16/06]

2005
- McCain voted yes to end debate on the Defense Appropriations Conference Report, which included a provision to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #364, H.R.2863, 12/21/05]

- McCain voted yes on a budget reconciliation package that contained language opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #303, S.1932, 11/3/05]

+ McCain voted yes on and amendment to strike a provision counting revenues from drilling in the refuge. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #52, Amendment 168, 3/16/05]

2003
+ McCain voted yes on an amendment to strike a provision counting revenues from drilling in the 2004 budget resolution. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #59, 3/19/03]

2002
+ McCain voted no on a motion to invoke cloture and vote on an amendment to open the refuge to oil development. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #71, 4/18/02]

2000
- McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would strike a provision assuming revenues from oil leasing in the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #58, S. Con. Res. 101, 4/6/00]

1995
- McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would strike Arctic Refuge leasing revenues from the Budget Resolution. NO is the pro-environment vote. [S. Con. Res. 13, 5/24/95]

- McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would strike Arctic drilling provisions from the Budget Reconciliation legislation. NO is the pro-environment vote. [S. 1357, 10/27/95]

1991
- McCain voted yes to invoke cloture and vote on a bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration. NO is the pro-environment. [S.1220, 11/1/91]

Public Lands and Logging

2005
+ Tongass logging: McCain voted yes on an amendment that would have ended taxpayer subsides for new commercial logging roads in the Tongass National Forest. [Roll Call #164, H.R. 2361 Amendment 1026, 6/29/05]

2003
- Forest thinning: McCain voted yes to table an amendment to the “Healthy Forests” initiative, which would  have restored the adequate-range-of-alternatives standard required by the National Environmental Policy Act when conducting environmental reviews of forest thinning projects. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #426, 10/30/03]

- Forest thinning: McCain voted yes on Bush’s “Healthy Forests” initiative, which used public fear of wildfires to justify increased logging by undermining review for logging projects, eliminating administrative appeals to final agency decisions, and forcing courts to renew preliminary injunctions on timber projects every 60 days. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #428, H.R. 1904, 10/30/03]

- Tongass logging: McCain voted yes on an amendment to undermine citizens’ ability to file legal challenges against massive timber sales in the Tongass, the nation’s largest national forest and the world’s largest remaining intact coastal temperate rainforest. [Roll Call #359, Stevens amendment, 9/23/03]

- Park Service privatization: McCain voted no on an amendment that would have reduced funding for efforts to privative more than half of the jobs in the National Park Service. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll call #361, 9/23/03]

2001
- National Monument drilling: McCain voted yes to table an amendment that would have prohibited Secretary Norton from issuing oil, gas, coal and geothermal leases on national monuments. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #229, amendment 879, 7/21/01]

2000
- Tongass logging: McCain voted no on an amendment that would have reduced the Forest Service’s timber sales, eliminated earmarked sales of timber from the Tongass, and redirected toward planning and preparing for fighting wildfires. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #207, 7/18/00]

Clean Air

1991
-  McCain voted no on a motion to table an amendment that would have allowed interstate (and other) funds to be used for constructing new lanes on interstate highways. YES is the pro-environment vote.  [6/13/91]

1990
-  McCain voted yes to table an amendment that was intended to restore states’ rights to set tough public health standards for radionuclides.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [3/7/90]

-  McCain voted yes to table an amendment that was intended to reinstate the mandate to control toxic emissions from motor vehicles.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [3/8/90]

+  McCain voted no to tabling an amendment that would have reduced emissions from new cars and mandated an alternative fuels program for America’s dirtiest cities. NO is the pro-environment vote.  [3/20/90]

+ McCain voted no to tabling an amendment that would have restored the federal mandate to step in when states failed to carry out their responsibilities, to assure the citizens’ right to sue to counter urban smog, and to reinstate the current Clean Air Act’s technology requirements for polluted areas.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [3/21/90]

-  McCain voted no to tabling the Nickles-Heflin amendment, which would have handcuffed EPA’s ability to enforce all Clean Air Act requirements and limited citizen suits.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [3/27/90]

-  McCain voted yes in the roll call vote on the Nickles-Heflin amendment that would hand-cuff EPA’s ability to enforce all Clean Air Act requirements and limited citizen suits.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [3/27/90]

-  McCain voted yes to reconsider the Nickles-Heflin amendment.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [4/3/90]

-  McCain voted no to tabling an amendment that would have weakened EPA’s role in the regulation of radioactive air emissions from facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [4/3/90]
 
Clean Water

2005
+ Stormwater Cleanup:  McCain voted yes on an amendment that would include $900 million (over six years) to manage flooding and pollution caused by runoff from roads and highways in the Transportation Bill.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call vote #113, 04/28/05]

2002
- McCain voted yes on the Bingaman-Inhofe amendment that would block regulation of hydraulic fracturing in the interim, and could result in a permanent exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [Roll Call #43, S.517, 3/7/02]

1998
- McCain voted no on the Lautenberg amendment that would have provided room in the federal budget for several environmental initiatives including the Clean Water Action Plan, and expanded funding for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Loan Funds.  YES is the pro-environment vote. [4/2/98]

1995
-  McCain voted to table the Kohl amendment, which would have exempt from the bill’s requirements new EPA rules to control health risks from microbes in water.  NO is the pro-environment vote. [7/12/95]

1994
-  McCain voted no on the motion to table the Gregg amendment, which would prohibited the EPA from enforcing clean drinking water standards unless federal taxpayers paid for the cost of compliance.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [5/17/94]

-  McCain voted yes to the Wallop amendment, which would have allowed state governments to choose which clean drinking water standards they wanted to follow.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [5/17/94]

-  McCain voted yes to requiring the EPA to produce complex, time-consuming, expensive studies whenever it proposed to strengthen public health and environmental protections.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [5/17/94]

1993
-  McCain voted no on Sasser’s motion to table the Craig amendment, which would have exacerbated regional differences over the energy tax, and represented a large added subsidy for hydropower users.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [3/25/93]

1989
-  McCain voted no on tabling the Symms amendment, which would have delayed for one year EPA funds to enforce LUST (leaking underground storage tanks) financial regulations.  YES is the pro-environment vote.  [1989]

1987
+  McCain voted no on the Dole substitute that would have reduced funding for the Clean Water Act.  NO is the pro-environment vote.  [1/21/87]

1985
-  McCain voted yes to cutting $6 bill from spending on water pollution control over five years.  NO is the pro-environment vote. [H.R. 8, 7/23/85]

-  McCain voted yes to allow municipalities to set their own standards for toxic waste in water.  NO is the pro-environment vote. [H.R. 8, 7/23/85]

Other

2007
- Water project funding reform: McCain was absent when the Senate voted on an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that would have established an independent commission to assess and prioritize water projects and direct funding away from pork barrel projects towards projects of real value and importance. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll call #165, H.R. 1495, 5/15/07]

2006
+ Corps peer review: McCain voted yes on an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that would have ensured independent peer review of costly, controversial, or environmental critical U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll call #208, S. 728 Amendment 4681, 7/19/06]

+ Corps peer review: McCain voted no on an amendment that would have left it up to the Corps to initiate peer review of their own projects and would have failed to ensure the independence of review panels. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll call #209, amendment 4682, 7/19/06]

2005
- Nominee confirmation: McCain voted yes to confirm the Bush’s anti-environment appointment of Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #131, 6/8/05]

2004
- Nominee confirmation: McCain voted yes to invoke cloture, which would have cleared the way to confirm Bush’s appointment of former mining and grazing lobbyist William G. Myers III to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll call #158, 7/20/04]

2003
- Endangered Species Act rollback: McCain voted no on an amendment that would protect habitat from Defense Department waivers of the Endangered Species Act. YES is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #190, S.1050, 5/21/03].

2001
- Nominee confirmation: McCain voted yes to confirm Gale A. Norton as Secretary of the Interior. Norton, whose mentor was Reagan’s controversial Interior Secretary James Watt, had a history of siding with extractive industries and opposing laws protecting federal lands, public resources, and wildlife. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #6, 1/30/01]

- Nominee confirmation: McCain voted yes to confirm anti-environment and anti-health John Graham, one of Bush’s most controversial nominees, to head the Office of Management and Budget’s Information and Regulatory Affairs Office. NO is the pro-environment vote. [Roll Call #242, 7/19/01]

1998
- Land protection rollback/takings: McCain voted yes to proceed to consideration of The Property Rights Implementation Act of 1998, which would amend federal environmental laws, allow polluters to challenge environmental protections, and override existing local procedures by allowing polluters to bring takings claims straight to federal court. NO is the pro-environment vote. [S. 2271, 7/13/98]