With Gas Prices Rising, Candidates Consider Energy Alternatives

6 August 2008

Presumed nominees detail their proposals for a cleaner environment

By Michelle Austein
Staff Writer

Washington -- As Americans’ opinion about drilling for oil off U.S. shores has shifted, the presidential candidates changed their views on whether it is appropriate to seek oil along American coastlines.

With concerns about gas prices weighing heavily on voters minds, both presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, reversed their opposition to drilling for offshore oil. Poll numbers indicate a growing number of Americans supports offshore drilling as a way to lessen the United States’ dependence on foreign oil.

High gas prices affect Americans’ transportation, food and heating costs at a time where many face other economic troubles. It has been a dominant topic on not only the presidential campaign trail but in local races across the country. (See “Americans Feeling Effects of Higher Oil, Gas Prices.”)

At a campaign event in Lansing, Michigan, August 4, Democratic candidate Obama introduced a new $150 billion energy plan that he says will “within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.” Initially an opponent of offshore oil drilling, Obama’s plan says that even though “the U.S. cannot drill our way to energy security,” offshore drilling would increase domestic oil supply.

Presumed Republican nominee McCain shares Obama’s view on offshore drilling, having ended his longtime opposition to it in June. “Anybody who says that we can achieve energy independence without using and increasing these existing energy resources either doesn’t have the experience to understand the challenge that we face or isn’t giving the American people some straight talk,” he said in a Pennsylvania campaign event August 4.

Obama’s new energy plan also calls for a $1,000 per family energy rebate, an expense that would be offset by a new tax on certain profits earned by the largest U.S. oil companies. Opponents of this so-called windfall profits tax, including McCain, say this measure proved counterproductive when it last was used in 1980 to quell rising gas prices.

Candidates Promote Cleaner Energy Sources

In his new energy plan, Obama says global climate change stems from use of fossil fuels for energy. He says “we have a moral, environmental, economic and security imperative to address our dependence on foreign oil and tackle climate change in a serious, sustainable manner.”

The presumed Democratic nominee says he will increase automotive fuel economy standards 4 percent per year, put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, advance biofuel technology and provide a tax credit to encourage Americans to purchase cars that run on cleaner energy. If elected, he would aim to replace the entire White House fleet with plug-in hybrid vehicles within the first year of his presidency.

The Illinois senator also calls for 10 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources such as wind or solar power by 2012. Among the buildings Obama would like to see go green would be those owned by the federal government, which is believed to be the largest single consumer of energy in the world.

Obama says his initiatives not only would create cleaner energy but add 5 million new jobs for green industries. The Illinois senator says that proposed job training and placement programs would help youths and veterans obtain work in these fields.

Like his opponent, McCain favors advancing biofuel technologies and promoting the use of hybrid and electric automobiles. He says he would offer a $300 million prize for the development of a better battery package that can improve the commercial viability of electric cars. He would provide a $5,000 tax credit for those purchasing a zero emissions vehicle.

McCain also believes that new green industry jobs can help the lagging U.S. economy. He would encourage companies to think green by providing tax credits for research and development. He also wants the federal government to lead the way in creating energy-efficient buildings.

The Arizona senator calls for a $2 billion annual commitment to advance clean coal technologies. If elected, McCain says he would construct 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030. Obama says the United States should better secure nuclear waste before considering expanding nuclear power.

More details about the candidates’ energy plans are available on the John McCain and Barack Obama Web sites.