As a companion piece to McCain's 50 Votes Against Clean Energy, published last week, this article lists Senator Obama's votes on the same clean energy bills. Obama joined the Senate in 2005, so his list begins at vote number 27.

 

Obama was not present for the last three clean energy votes, so I contacted his Senate office to find out how he would have voted.  His energy staffer told me that he would have voted "yes" on all three, which is consistent with his record, as these were repeat attempts to pass legislation that he had voted in favor of previously.

I had recorded "no" votes for McCain on the 13 that he missed  because his staff had told a Forbes reporter that that's the way McCain would have voted on the bills in question. Further, the staffer said that McCain would have supported the Republican filibuster, as he had done in the past. 

Since his Senate debut in 2005, Obama has had 24 opportunities to vote for clean energy, and he chose clean energy 23 of those times. The one time he did note vote with Boxer was in 2005 when he voted for nuclear power subsidies as part of the McCain-Lieberman bill. By contrast, McCain scored at the Inhofe end of the scale.

Summary

Obama's first vote: 1-(27) '05 (D) Increase clean energy R&D funding
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 53-46

2-(28) '05 (R) Appoint Stephen L. Johnson to head of EPA
Boxer No
Obama No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Yes
passed 61-37

3-(29) '05 (D) Clean energy incentives
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 47-53

4-(30) '05 (D) Try again to establish a RPS
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
passed 52-48

5-(31) '05 (D) Tax oil company windfall profits rebates to consumer
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 35-64

6-(32) '05 (D) Tax oil companies windfall profits to fund clean energy
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 41-65

7-(33) '05 (R) Cap and trade funded nuclear subsidies McCain-Lieberman
Boxer No
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Yes
failed 38-60

8-(34) '05 (R) Let wind NIMBYs prevent wind development
Boxer No
Obama No
Inhofe No
McCain Yes
failed 32-63

9-(35) '05 (R-D) Energy funding: both fossil and clean energy
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe Yes
McCain No
passed 85-12

10-(36) '05 (D) Tax oil to fund energy efficiency assistance
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain No
failed 48-50
11-(37) '07 (D) Cloture vote tax incentives for clean energy
Boxer Not present
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 57-36

12-(38) '07 (D) Increase science and new technology funding
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present

13-(39) '07 (D) Cloture vote tax incentives for clean energy
Boxer Not present
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 62-32

14-(40) '07 (D) Tax incentives for clean energy
Boxer Not present
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 65-27

15-(41) '07 (D) To expand liquid natural gas development
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 37-56

16-(42) '07 (R) Inhofe coal-to-liquids fuel subsidy
Boxer No
Obama No
Inhofe Yes
McCain Not present
failed 43-52

17-(43) '07 (D) Ensure that "renewable fuels" are green
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 58-34

18-(44) '07 (D) Include RPS in final energy bill
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 56-39

19-(45) '07 (D) Cloture to vote on bioenergy funding
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed cloture 55-42 (cloture needs 60)

20-(46) '07 (D) Cloture to vote on 2007 Energy Bill included PTC
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 53-42 (cloture needs 60)

21-(47) '07 (D) Cloture Full 2007 Energy Bill still including production tax credits
Boxer Yes
Obama Yes
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed by one vote* 59-41 (cloture needs 60)

22-(48) '07 (D) 2/3 stripped down 2007 Energy Bill: only CAFE
Boxer Yes
Obama Not present (staff said: Yes)
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
passed 86-8

23-(49) '07 (D) Cloture to extend the PTC solar and wind incentives
Boxer Yes
Obama Not present (staff said: Yes)
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed 52-44 (need 60)

24-(50) '08 (D) Cloture to extend the PTC solar and wind incentives
Boxer Yes
Obama Not present (staff said: Yes)
Inhofe No
McCain Not present
failed cloture 53-43 (need 60)

Obama was not the first choice of nearly half of the Democratic voters. Compared to Hillary Clinton, his support for nuclear power, shown by his vote for McCain-Lieberman (35) was troublesome to many Democrats. Before he voted with most of the Democrats against Inhofe's bill to fund coal to liquids fuels (42) he let Inhofe think that he would support it.

As a result, a roar of disapproval went up among environmental activists, and Obama (along with eight others) disappointed Inhofe with a change of heart, as CNS newsman, now Inhofe staffer Marc Morano bitterly noted on the Environment Committee website at the time.

Senator Bingaman then inserted an amendment (43) that only low-carbon synthetic fuels (such as genetically engineered algae biodiesel) could qualify for subsidy, which Obama supported. While this has made for good, strong policy, many Clinton supporters felt that a truly "green" president should have been already aware of this problem, even though Obama ultimately voted "no" to coal-to-liquids fuel.

However, based on Obama's consistently pro-environment voting record, he is apparently far from the wolf in sheep's clothing that Hillary voters feared. There is virtually no discrepancy between Obama's frequently voiced concern with climate change, and his voting record on how to deal with it.

Related stories:
McCain's 50 Votes Against Clean Energy
Obama Plans Zero Energy Buildings Nationwide By 2030

Photo by Flickr user jurvetson