Last week on the stump, George W. Bush mocked Al Gore’s proposal to give tax credits to homeowners who install solar panels to generate electricity. “How many of you own a rooftop photovoltaic system?” Bush crowed at campaign rallies. But it turns out that Bush’s own energy plan includes what amounts to the very same proposal — a tax credit of up to $2,000 for homeowners who install solar panels. In other campaign news, the Republican Leadership Council is hoping to take votes away from Gore by airing pro-Ralph Nader ads in the swing states Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. The ads include a sound bite from a Nader speech in which he criticized the vice president’s environmental record as too weak. A Nader spokesperson noted that the commercial failed to include Nader’s complete quotation, which went on to hammer Bush as well. Meanwhile, Gore seems to be in trouble in heavily Democratic West Virginia, where coal companies and some coal workers are concerned that his environmental policies would place more limits on coal mining and burning.
