Obama's and McCain's Green Promises Are Just a Matter of Speech

Obama said this about solar power. McCain said that about climate change. You no longer have to spar with your "green" friends over who is saying what for the next election, thanks to SpeechWars, a handy little application that let's you compare, word-for-word what America's presidential candidates are really saying about green matters.

Visit the site www.speechwars.org, plug in a single word, and press go. In a second you can really see who's using the words close to your green heart. Showing the occurrence of the word, and when, SpeechWars can also let you see in what direction the campaigns of Obama and McCain are headed, indicated by an increased or decreased use of that word.

Featured on the Huffington Post earlier -- and later on TreeHugger -- SpeechWars might not sway your vote, but it certainly offers another way of "seeing" the issues that matter to you.

Take for example the word solar. McCain said solar 18 times since 2004, Obama 40 times. Note on the output chart, and the recent peaks where Obama has started using the word solar more frequently.

If we look at energy, McCain has used the word energy much less than Obama: 267 times versus 508. But note where the usage peaks: McCain spikes in August, Obama over in the last few months.

Climate was said by McCain 76 times, 92 by Obama. Pretty even.

SpeechWars was created by Ben Reis in Jerusalem, who plugged in over 125 speeches from each candidate into the application-- with some speeches coming directly from websites. It's such an interesting tool that the US States Library of Congress has selected SpeechWars for inclusion in its official historic collection of Internet materials related to 2008's election.

More on the green side of politics served up on TreeHugger
What Green Words Are Obama and McCain Really Saying?
Obama on Cities, The Solution Not the Problem
McCain Blows Hot Air on Tire Inflation

::SpeechWars