JERSEY CITY -- While 3,300 children noisily toured the hands-on exhibits at the Liberty Science Center, Arizona Sen. John McCain touted his environmental record in a morning campaign stop.

He said he was dedicated to the issue of global climate change, adding an international agreement involving China and India was his "highest priority" if elected president.

"I think that no doubt that globally the environment and this country's environment is challenged," McCain said. He said he was proud of his environmental record, which he said included the protection of national parks.

McCain took the stage with former state Gov. Thomas Kean, Sr. and US Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., whom he both thanked for their environmental leadership after both had earlier touted McCain's environmental credentials. Kean called McCain a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" because of his interest in preservation and global warming. Lieberman said McCain was initially a global warming skeptic, but is also open-minded. "He listens, he learns and when he finds something he thinks is really a problem, he'll work to solve it," Lieberman said.

The stop was originally planned for the beaches of Sandy Hook, but bad weather moved it indoors. After a 17-minute press conference, McCain toured part of the facility. Also attending were state Sens. Bill Baroni, Kevin O'Toole, Tom Kean, Jr. and Assemblywoman Alison McHose.

Baroni, the McCain state chairman, said McCain was the kind of Republican who wins in New Jersey in part because of an environmental record including action on climate change and open space issues. He said, "We think John McCain recognizes and his campaign matches the interests of the voters of New Jersey." . . .

McCain was last in the state when he held a rally in a Mercer County firehouse the day before state voters went to the polls in the Feb. 5 presidential primary. Lieberman was also with him then.

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