While Obama is monitoring the polls to find his position on domestic oil exploration McCain has released a realistic plan for Energy. His plan aligns with what I have said all along. Yes, we need to use alternative fuels, but we also must use oil and gas, and we must become less dependent on foreign sources to get them.
Here are the basic principles of his plan.
Expanding Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production
It is great that we want to use alternative fuels, but McCain also realizes that we will rely on oil and gas as well. For this resource we need to become less dependent on foreign sources. The only way to do this is to open up more of our own lands for oil exploration. I say exploration, but we already know where these resources are, but the Democratic led Congress refuses to open these lands up.
Reforming Our Transportation Sector
In order for companies to develop alternative fuel cars and for people to want to buy them there must be incentives in place for these things to get accomplished. This is what this part of McCain’s plan addresses. He will include tax credits for the development and purchase of alternative fuel cars, and even offer a $300 challenge to carmakers to make an affordable electric vehicle. This plan would also take steps to promote alcohol based fuel sources such as cellulosic ethanol, which will not affect prices of food sources.
Investing In Clean Alternative Sources of Energy
There are other sources of energy that we can explore and it would be wise to explore them all. McCain’s energy plan addresses this as well. Clean coal technologies are an estimated 15 years away so McCain will allocate additional money to try to expedite these technologies. Because coal is the largest producer of electricity this could be an investment that could really help our environment. McCain will also increase the use of nuclear power to use as an energy source. This is a known clean energy source, but no new plants have been built in 30 years. In addition to nuclear power, tax credits will be provided for other technologies such as wind, hydro, and solar power. And unlike Obama who thinks that overtaxing energy companies will produce results, McCain will give tax credits to these companies based upon the amount of money they spend on R&D.
Promote Energy Efficiency
The biggest energy consumer in our country is our own government. McCain’s military experience has taught him to lead by example and that is what he intends to do with regards to energy. He will take steps to make government facilities more energy efficient. In addition to this, he will work to make strategic improvements to our national grid to support using plug in type electrical vehicles as well as implement smartmeter technologies to help all Americans conserve energy.
There are other specifics to the plan, but I believe these are most of the main points. The one big difference between Obama and McCain is that Obama sees Energy companies as the enemy while McCain sees them as an asset to develop new and better technologies. Jimmy Carter put windfall taxes in place during his administration and it did not work then. Why does Obama think that it will work now? Once again Obama’s campaign of change is promoting another old, unsuccessful idea and is hoping the American people never paid attention in history class.
It is time that we stop playing the blame game and actually implement an all encompassing energy plan that accounts for all possible energy resources and will not only help the planet, but also our pocketbooks.
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