McCain Hears Case on Global Warming

Sen. John McCain expressed concern Wednesday about the “mounting evidence” pointing to global climate change and the potential for harm but said any action should be based on science “and not on rhetoric or political expedience.”

The former GOP presidential contender made good on a campaign promise and held a hearing before his Senate Commerce Committee on global warming. Half a dozen scientists told him the surface of the Earth is warming, that concentrations of so-called greenhouse gases have significantly increased in the atmosphere and that there’s plenty of evidence humans have something to do with it.

McCain, an Arizona Republican, had been dogged during his unsuccessful presidential campaign by a group of environmental activists, especially in New Hampshire, who pressed him on the climate issue. That prompted him to promise hearings on the matter.

It is a signature issue for Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the likely GOP nominee, has been vague on the issue, saying he increasingly has come to the conclusion that there may be a warming of the Earth but wants more scientific evidence.