McCain, Obama praise GorePosted: 04:45 PM ET
From CNN's Emily Sherman
McCain and Obama praised Gore Thursday for his climate change initiative.
(CNN)– Both parties' presumptive nominees praised former Vice President Al Gore as he challenged the nation Thursday to transition completely to renewable and carbon-free energy within the next decade — but parted ways on some of Gore's recommendations.
"For decades, Al Gore has challenged the skeptics in Washington on climate change and awakened the conscience of a nation to the urgency of this threat," Obama said in a statement Thursday.
Obama's environmental proposals mimic many of Gore's own: he would implement an economy-wide cap-and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and plans to make the United States a leader in the global effort to combat climate change.
But John McCain reminded reporters he and Gore hold very divergent views on the use of at least one renewable energy source.
"I've admired the Vice President on this issue," McCain said Thursday. There may be some aspects of climate change that he and I are in disagreement on but overall — I mean, I've always been a supporter of nuclear power and he has not agreed with that."
The Arizona senator co-sponsored cap-and-trade legislation introduced last year — but has criticized later versions of the bill for failing to include further incentives for nuclear power, saying the nation would not make progress in ending global warming unless nuclear energy was greatly expanded.
McCain also continued to contrast his environmental policy with Obama's.
"Let me just say again, Sen. Obama, no storage and no reprocess. And that's nuclear power. No drilling offshore. That's a way of finding oil and gas reserves. Dr. No," McCain said.
Filed under: Al Gore • Barack Obama • John McCain
