Environmental Leader

Sen. John McCain has called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the New York Times reports. He said he plans to propose a series of goals for reduction of carbon emissions ending at 60 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. You can read more about his plan here.

McCain also renewed his support for a “cap-and-trade” system in which power plants and other polluters could meet limits on heat-trapping gases by either reducing emissions or buying credits.

There’s an AP video report here (photo above is from AP video).

The senator also pledged to work with the EU to diplomatically engage two of the world’s biggest polluters — China and India — if they refuse to participate in an international agreement to slow global warming, but stopped short of calling for punitive tariffs against the countries even though the threats were in his prepared remarks.

McCain gave the speech at Vestas Wind Technology, a Portland, Ore.-based wind power plant that is part of a trade association that pushed aggressively in 2005 for legislation that would have included the largest expansion of financial incentives to produce clean wind energy. McCain didn’t vote for the bill, the Huffington Post reports.

Prior to his speech today, McCain released a new climate change TV ad, “A Better Way.” Check it out below.

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