LOS ANGELES: Republican nominee-elect John McCain on Tuesday vowed to combat global warming without sacrificing economic growth, contradicting President George W. Bush on the need for binding emissions cuts.

Unlike Bush, McCain pressed for mandatory cuts in emissions of warming gases as he spoke at a California event alongside Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposes the White House hopeful's call for offshore oil drilling.

McCain said lifting a federal ban on coastal drilling may not bring down sky-high fuel prices for "some years," but could have a psychological impact as the United States takes greater control over its energy future.

"Nothing is more urgent right now than regaining our energy security -- we need to get it done and get it right," the Arizona senator said.

Both McCain and Democratic rival Barack Obama support "cap and trade" markets to slash emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, but the Republican took coded shots at Obama over who would offer greater leadership.

"Practical ideas are worth a lot more than uplifting lectures. It's not always a matter of making due with less energy. It's a matter of using energy in smarter ways," he said in Santa Barbara.

In his own speech in the Nevada gambling haven of Las Vegas, Obama took note of McCain's admission that offshore drilling would not yield any short-term benefits.

"Psychological impact. In case you were wondering, that's Washington-speak for, It polls well," the Illinois senator said.

"Well, the American people don't need psychological relief or meaningless gimmicks to get politicians through the next election, they need real relief that will help them fill up their tanks and put food on their table," he said.

"They need a long-term energy strategy that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil by investing in the renewable sources of energy that represent the future."

Obama, who wants to invest 150 billion dollars over 10 years in alternative energy like wind and solar power, also derided McCain for proposing 45 new nuclear reactors without spelling out where the waste would be stored.

In the teeth of local opposition, the Bush administration wants to create a long-term nuclear waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

Several dozen protestors picketed the McCain speech, some holding signs showing the devastating aftermath of a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara to decry his policy reversal on permitting offshore drilling.

As the international community debates a successor to the Kyoto treaty on climate change, which Bush abandoned, McCain set out his proposal to reduce carbon emissions to 2005 levels by 2012.

By 2020, he said, emissions should be cut to 1990 levels, "and so on until we have achieved at least a reduction of 60 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050."

"In this way, we will transition into a low-carbon energy future while staying on a course of economic growth," McCain said.

"The purpose of this plan is to give American businesses new incentives and rewards to seek, instead of just giving new taxes to pay and new orders to follow.

"My strategy gives people time to adapt, instead of causing a jolt to your electricity bill and widespread shutdowns of tradition coal-fired plants."

McCain returned to his proposal of Monday for a 300-million-dollar prize for anyone who develops a commercially viable hydrogen battery that can leapfrog gasoline engines and current hybrid technology.

Obama said far bolder government leadership was required, analogous to president John F. Kennedy's promise of 1961 to put a man on the moon within the decade, instead of putting "a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win."