McCain, in Florida, defends opposition to 2007 Florida Everglades bill

[seafan]

Yeah, the real McCain is a *friend of the Everglades.*



McCain defends opposition to 2007 Glades bill



LM Otero / AP Photo
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pats Carson Duncan, 6, on the head after upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Fla., Wednesday, June 4, 2008.


BY BETH REINHARD AND RICK HIRSCH
June 4, 2008

ORLANDO --John McCain, who will venture into the Everglades for the first time as a presidential candidate Friday, on Thursday defended his opposition last year to spending $2 billion on restoring the park.
''I am committed to saving the Everglades,'' he told a gathering of newspaper editors at Walt Disney World. But he added: ``I will not vote for out-of-control spending.''

He said he would support a ''stand-alone'' bill to restore the River of Grass. The earlier measure was part of a broader, $23 billion Water Resources Development Act that he found unpalatable.
Visiting the Everglades is a rite of passage for politicians shoring up their environmental credentials in the nation's largest swing state.

.....

McCain's trip Friday will push Florida's signature environmental resource to the forefront of the presidential race for the first time.
It took seven years after the state and federal governments closed a sweeping Everglades cleanup deal for Congress to authorize spending in 2007.
McCain was campaigning and missed the vote, but he later urged his colleagues to let President Bush's veto of the measure stand.

.....

Florida Republican leaders who have campaigned for McCain said last year that the legislation was essential to replenishing the Everglades.
Florida's Republican senator, Mel Martinez, voted with the 79-14 majority to trump Bush's veto of the legislation, the first of his presidency. Gov. Charlie Crist lobbied for the override in Washington and said the measure authorized ``desperately needed projects and funding that will ensure the continued restoration of one of America's greatest natural treasures.''

.....

''It bothers me that Sen. McCain would vote against this funding and then come down and act like he's a friend of the Everglades,'' said Eric Draper, deputy policy director at Audubon of Florida. ``We need the next president -- whether it's McCain or Obama -- to make a real commitment to getting restoration of the Everglades going again.''

.....

We are watching.

[Clovis Sangrail]

1. that picture is HILARIOUS /nt

[seafan]

2. Grampy is out on an airboat in the 'glades somewhere today.

Gators, take cover.

[seafan]

3. There're some BIG gators out here, my friends.

Another play date with Charlie.