I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges. I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto. The United States will lead and will lead with a different approach — an approach that speaks to the interests and obligations of every nation. -- John McCain, May 12

Sounds like someone is bitter that they didn't get invited to Jenna's wedding over the weekend. Or it could just be that today's climate policy speech in Portland, Oregon, by the presumptive GOP nominee signaled McCain's official goodbye to the Republican base and a big hello to Mr. and Mrs. Independent.

We're not going to waste any (virtual) ink praising McCain for acknowledging the science of climate change is sound and all of that, because it's such a non-issue at this point. But, it was nice to hear a politician talk about the need for adaptation of the nation's infrastructure to meet the future climate change challenges, rather than the same rhetoric focusing only on efficiencies.

McCain and his advisers apparently made a list of every one of the Bush Administration's positions on the issue and made sure to mention the 180-degree difference that he would take. This included his proposal to reduce emissions to 2005 levels by 2012, then 1990 levels by 2020 and eventually pre-1990 levels by 2050, as opposed to Bush's support of continued emissions increases until 2025. He also promised the U.S. would take part in international negotiations even if China is not willing to get on board. In fact, as the quote at the top indicates, the Maverick went as far as to subtly compare the leaders of China and India to Bush.

As usual, McCain promoted his panacea for all our emissions problems -- cap and trade. It's not that we don't favor cap and trade as part of a comprehensive approach, but we think McCain is putting too much faith in the ability of the "free market" to favor clean energies over fossil fuels without ever having to offer subsidies or increase taxes. (By mentioning free markets and denouncing taxes, McCain also checked off the two essential components of every GOP climate change speech).

McCain also wants carbon-offsets to help companies meet their targets, saying the "agricultural sector alone can provide as much as forty percent of the overall reductions," required to meet his targets. This sounds nice, and we're sure will secure his favor with the influential farm lobby, but we know better than to believe vague, grandiose promises.

Speaking of credits, McCain mentioned auctioning credits in the future, which probably means giving them away initially. Environmentalists, advocates for the poor, and basically anyone who does not support handouts to the private sector don't like free allocation of credits, since auctioning provides revenue that can go to offset increases in the cost of energy for low income, in addition to investment in renewable energy technologies.

Thanks to ThinkProgress.