How to Talk About Politics You Don't Really Understand
By Yael Kohen and Lauren Iannotti
Energy & Environment
Photo Credit: P. Essick/Getty Images
Special Offer
ISSUE
Energy & Environment: How do we lower emissions and combat global warming while keeping energy costs out of the stratosphere?
MCCAIN'S TAKE
Favors giving away federal permits that cap the carbon emissions a company can produce; supports domestic drilling; wants to build a whole mess of nuclear plants.
OBAMA'S TAKE
Would auction off permits that limit carbon emissions to companies; he's hedging on domestic drilling and supports subsidies for dubious corn ethanol production.
YOUR SMARTY-PANTS SOUND BITE
"You know, in New Zealand, where sheep outnumber people 10 to 1, over half of greenhouse gases come from the country's 50 million livestock. If only they could harness all that methane . . . could you pass the bean dip?"
>>NEXT PAGE: Education: Schools are overcrowded, and dropout rates are high
