In softball KOA interview, hosts let campaign official tout McCain's environmental record without challenge

Summary: On Newsradio 850 KOA, the co-hosts of Colorado's Morning News interviewed Sen. John McCain's "senior policy advisor," Doug Holtz-Eakin, on the Republican candidate's "environmental policy," but failed to provide any other sources to comment on his claim that McCain had a "long-standing interest in the environment." In fact, McCain has a lifetime rating of 24 percent from the League of Conservation Voters, compared with Sen. Hillary Clinton's 87 percent lifetime rating and Sen. Barack Obama's 86 percent.

On the April 22 broadcast of Colorado's Morning News on Newsradio 850 KOA, co-hosts April Zesbaugh and Mark Johnson lobbed softball questions at Doug Holtz-Eakin, senior policy advisor for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and allowed Holtz-Eakin to tout McCain's "long-standing interest in the environment" without providing any other perspectives on the subject. After reading from a McCain campaign Earth Day press release, Zesbaugh asked if it was "tougher for the Republican candidate" to address environmental issues than for Democratic candidates. Holtz-Eakin replied, "[I]t's not hard for John McCain, because he has such a long history in this area" and later added that "one of the great joys of working with John McCain is, the Straight Talk Express runs right through the environment as well." However, neither Zesbaugh nor Johnson quoted any other sources regarding McCain's environmental record, such as the League of Conservation Voters' (LCV) lifetime rating of 24 percent for the GOP candidate. In contrast, McCain's Democratic opponents, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have LCV lifetime ratings of 87 percent and 86 percent, respectively.

Additionally, McCain received a score of 40 percent in the Defenders of Wildlife's "Conservation Report Card" for the 109th Congress, while Obama and Clinton both received a score of 82 percent. For the 108th Congress, McCain received a 38 percent score on the organization's report card, while Clinton scored 100 percent. According to Defenders of Wildlife, McCain, Clinton, and Obama did not cast enough votes to receive an official score for the 110th Congress; however, McCain has a lifetime rating of 39 percent, while Clinton's lifetime rating is 92 percent and Obama's is 85 percent.

In addition to McCain's low lifetime rating, the LCV's "2007 National Environmental Scorecard," noted that while all of the presidential candidate's 2007 scores "suffered from the occupational hazard of absenteeism," McCain missed all 15 votes scored by the LCV, "including the key vote on repealing tax giveaways to big oil":

Presidential Candidates' Scores

* The presidential candidates' scores all suffered from the occupational hazard of absenteeism. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) missed four votes each in 2007, although both made a point of being on hand for the key vote that would have allowed a version of the energy bill to move forward that included a provision to repeal billions of dollars in tax breaks for big oil and put that money toward clean energy programs. Clinton's score in 2007 was 73 percent (87 percent lifetime); Obama's was 67 percent (86 percent lifetime).

* Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) scored 0 percent in 2007 (24 percent lifetime) due to missing all 15 votes scored, including the key vote on repealing tax giveaways to big oil -- a measure that failed by only one vote.

In a February 21 post on the environmental news blog Gristmill, Grist magazine staff writer David Roberts wrote that while the "LCV scorecard has its critics," it has "nonetheless become something of a gold standard when measuring how 'green' a lawmaker is."

Zesbaugh and Johnson omitted the LCV vote information much as The Wall Street Journal did in a March 5 article reporting that McCain "said his pro-environment positions," among others, would "make him competitive" in California, as Media Matters for America has noted.

From the April 22 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's Colorado's Morning News:

JOHNSON: And speaking of which, it's 7:02; let's welcome Doug Holtz-Eakin. He is the senior policy advisor for John McCain, and he's here to talk about the Republican presidential candidate's environmental policy. Doug, good morning.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Good morning, Mark. How are you?

JOHNSON: Doing wonderful; thanks for being here today. But this has become, right now, a little bit of a theme with John McCain.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Oh, well, he has a long-standing interest in the environment. It's a little-known story that when he first came back to the United States after being held as a POW, he got asked a question, you know, "What's changed?" And he looked around and he said, "Well, we're taking better care of the place." And so, his interest in a good environment is one of those that he's really had throughout his career. He treasures his walks through the Grand Canyon, and, you know, this is a big day. Earth Day's the day we reflect on our obligation to be good stewards of the creation that is the Earth.

ZESBAUGH: Yeah, along those same lines, I just got an Earth Day press release from McCain's camp, and it says essentially among other things, quote, "We are called upon to protect national treasures for our children, grandchildren, and future generations." Is it tougher for the Republican candidate, do you think, to send out that message than it is for Democrats, who we assume are quote-unquote "green," I guess, candidates?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Well, it's not hard for John McCain, because he has such a long history in this area. He's had several efforts and been instrumental in producing national wildlife areas, parks, the kinds of places where we protect those parts of America that are really unique and deserve to be preserved for future generations. He's introduced climate change legislation in two congresses, co-sponsored with Joe Lieberman; displays his willingness to reach across the aisle and get things done in the interests of what's good for the American people. So, you know, one of the great joys of working with John McCain is, the Straight Talk Express runs right through the environment as well.

JOHNSON: Is there a sense, though, that he has to maybe fight, sometimes, people in his own party for some of his interests when it comes to the environment?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Well, certainly the climate change issue has, you know, been a contentious issue in the nation as a whole and certainly in the Republican Party. He's stood out because of his willingness to speak out for his beliefs. He's chaired the [Senate] Commerce Committee and used that as an opportunity to learn a lot about the science of climate change, to examine the economic implications of addressing climate change. Not all of that's been uniformly supported in the Republican Party. But I think that if you look at the sentiment on the ground, the American people are interested in, you know, a government that does the things that are in the national interest; he's a man of action and wants to get things going. And our economy will be able to adapt. It's going to look different in 50 years than it does right now, and we just have to make sure that we guide it to a place where it's also a little more gentle on the environment.

ZESBAUGH: On this Earth Day we're also talking about the high gas prices. What about car emissions? As president, would he support more technology to reduce our dependence on oil, specifically foreign oil?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: He's already laid out a pretty aggressive energy reform proposal that would try to move us off the reliance on imported oil. That's an economic imperative; it's also a national security issue, because we're sending $400 billion overseas, a lot of it to people like, you know, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez, who are not exactly supporters of democracy around the globe. So, he would want to see flex-fuel vehicles; that costs about a hundred dollars a car to make it be able to run on multiple fuels. He'd love to see an aggressive use of plug-in hybrids, have more of our transportation needs run off a grid and get better batteries as well to drive off those for longer periods of time. About half of the commutes in the United States are under 25 miles, and, you know, battery-powered cars are perfect for that use.

JOHNSON: Hey Doug, we appreciate your time this morning.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: My pleasure.

JOHNSON: All right, that's Doug Holtz-Eakin; he's a senior policy advisor for John McCain, joining us here at 7:06 on Colorado's Morning News.

—C.H. & J.F.B.