Another view of McCain meeting

Re “Santa Barbara fumes over drill plan,” June 25

Having attended the environmental round-table referenced in the article, I was amazed at the anti-John McCain spin The Times put forward.

Had I only read the article, I would have pictured the entire event as one at which Michael Feeney, executive director of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, stole the show in beating down McCain’s ideas. Feeney was a very minor player who simply sounded notes of caution on McCain’s plans.

The Times failed to note the presence of James Woolsey, the former CIA director, who spoke eloquently about the potential of new technologies. Also left out was Matt Tirrell, founder of the Institute of Energy Efficiency at UC Santa Barbara.

Here’s what really happened: McCain held a well-attended, balanced and respectful discussion on energy and the environment and laid out an optimistic plan to meet these challenges. Elements of his plan include the establishment of incentives to hasten technological advances, aggressive expansion of renewable energy sources, responsible development of new nuclear power facilities and clean-coal technologies and more.

Paul Grossgold

Camarillo