The Obama/McCain Energy Charade

A sad footnote on America's energy plan

While out of the country I recently came across an article in a Thailand english language newspaper. A company called "Detroit Electric" is negotiating to build a new plant in either Thailand or Indonesia to assemble hybrid components of its new auto components for hybrid cars. They use their own light gas or natural gas engine and a battery system that gets 200 miles on a 6 to 7 hour charge, it can do 0 to 60mph in 5.6 seconds! and has nearly 0 emissions.Wow I thought why are we outsourcing what sounds like a great product, when we have tons of empty auto factories and workers available now.Imagine my surprise to find in reading on that the we was actually a German company which had bought the rights to the name, the company went out of the electric car business in "1907"! They have French investors and are looking for others even in the US. T.Boone Pickens where are you when we need you? And to top it all these components can be installed in any pre-existing car it was a Lotus that tested 0-60mph in 5.6secs. Energy policy what policy again we are being scooped by the rest of the world using our own factory name to sell cars!

Curtis Gwin Jr of WA @ Sep 08, 2008 09:21:22 AM

Not Just One Solution

Face it, we have an energy shortage. There is no single path out of the mess, and it will take wind, nuclear, coal, oil, hydro, and other technologies to increase supply. Drilling is imperative, but it isn't the entire answer either. So, let's stop debating the pro's and con's of each solution, and put together an overarching package of energy solutions. Then, let's debate those packages. I'm sure the American public would find it more palatable to choose packages of solutions rather than one versus the other.

Jim O'Reilly of MN @ Aug 07, 2008 13:54:15 PM

McCain/Obama on Energy

Both candidates continue to confuse imported oil with energy. The U.S. has all the energy it needs and the ability to produce much more than it needs from present and all the new developing technologies.

The U.S. uses imported oil to produce fuel for the internal combusion engine. Moving people and goods from one place to another.

Substituting other fuels for gasoline and jet fuel with renewable fuels (mostly in flex fuel vehicles) is all that is needed to become independent of imported oil.

It worked for Brazil that is today totally independent of imported oil driving flex fuel vehicles made in the USA.

Meantime, while the transformation is taking place, conservation and trying all other types of vehicles (hybrid electric, compressed natural gas, etc.) will help.

But continuing to burn up the world's supply of oil will rob future generations of the many products made from refining crude oil into petrochemicals that they will need to continue mankind's exploration of our solar system and beyond, as well as everyday products such as this computer made possible by the efforts of people that came before us.

HillBillyBill of TN @ Aug 07, 2008 12:53:49 PM

Energy Charade

McCain is correct in pursuing more energy options. Also,Obama has no chance of reducing our oil pricing without increasing our domestic oil supply... none. Further, in the opinion of this experienced power engineer, Obama cannot expand our power infrastructure to accommodate alternative energy sources overnight. Solar and wind farms are great, but their large size dictates that they be placed in more remote areas. On the other hand, new nuclear plants can be built on existing plant sites (2 are already being designed), where they can connect to the existing power grid. When you build remote wind and solar farms, WHERE and HOW will you connect high voltage transmission lines to the main power grid if you are running them across miles and miles of mostly developed land? You need to OWN the land or have legal right of way. Our power infrastructure took more than 100 years to build... and all of this happened with MUCH less urban sprawl and fewer environmental/land use regulations than we have now. How can Obama insist that all of this can be modified so extensively in less than several decades? When that problem is finally solved, after decades of legal fights between land owners, utilities, state & local governments, regulating agencies (incuding every state utility commission, DEP and highway/transportation authority), HOW will we provide backup power for these wind and solar power generators whenever the sun sets and the wind speed drops? We need more nuclear and combined cycle power plants… period. Solar and wind are great, but we will still need backup power. McCain seems to know this, and Obama seems to ignore it. This helps make my choice in November an easy one.

Mike of PA @ Aug 06, 2008 14:50:57 PM

Obama's Energy Plan is a disaster

Senator Obama's solutions will create worse problems than they attempt to solve. Having the oil companies pay $1000 to each family might help take away some of the sting from families buying gasoline in the very short term (like a few days) but will do nothing to curb oil consumption. The additional cost of the $1000 rebate to each family will have to come from somewhere and it is highly likely that the oil companies will raise oil prices to cover it which means that it will be passed on to those same families that are hurting. Tapping the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will do very little to decrease prices or the demand for oil for any period longer than a few weeks. It will however put our nations security at risk as this reserve is diminished and limit our flexibility should something worse happen in the oil markets. After all, that is why we have the reserve.

The speculation in the market for oil boils down to supply and demand. Looking out a few years in the future it is widely known that supply will continue to decrease while demand continues to increase. Sending a message to the speculation market that supply will be increasing in the future as the U.S. starts to tap domestic oil supplies is the only way to break this. Obama's plan does not include such a strategy, while McCain's does.

The costs associated with switching all Americans over to hybrid cars and green energy sources will be huge and should be met with some resistance as it will make $4.00/gal gasoline look like nothing. Your power bill will double and you will have to replace your current car. These costs are not even touched upon in his plan.

The biggest problem that the U.S. faces is our dependence on foreign oil. We are transferring all of our hard earned wealth to our enemies. Let's focus our attention on getting off foreign oil by developing our own resources and as we do that we can begin building the infrastructure that will be required to make a complete switch to electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells or whatever the best alternative fuel will be. These technologies are still in development and are not ready for wide distribution yet. Let's buy the time we need so we don't create more problems than we are trying to fix.

Joe of NV @ Aug 06, 2008 14:22:55 PM

i do feel that you nailed it pretty close to on the head, but with McCain(for McPresident... he's a clown, just like Ronald)out there pushing nukes yesterday, made me want to puke! It's not called 'WASTE' for convenience. If he COULD be talking FUSION then he might have something going on, but he's only thinking fission and do you want that sh*t in your backyard? TMI was a lot worse than they would like you to believe.

As for the oil....you really don't want to get me started on that fiasco. I don't have the time, the "ENERGY" or the space I'm sure. And I'm sure you've heard most of the gripes I would fill this space with. One question, how many millions or was it billions of barrels of crude have been wasted in a warrentless war that was fed to U.S. with lies and deception (magic)by this 'oil in their pockets' administration? Bastages...they should be hung on the White House lawn on Jan. 22nd.

Camper Steve of @ Aug 06, 2008 13:25:37 PM

Price of Gas

The ONLY solution to the energy crisis is the same solution for the climate change crisis is the smae solution to competing with China & Inia to buy oil is the same solution for depending on people in the world that don't like us to provide our oil:

MASSIVE EMERGENCY SUBSIDIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLE SOURCES OF CLEAN NON-DANGEROUS ENERGY.

By 'massive' I mean equal to the amount we are throwing away in Iraq massive.

THE BUSH/CHENEY DISASTER MUST END BEFORE WE CAN SOLVE THE ENERGY CRISIS.

Obama is no saint, but continuing THE BUSH/CHENEY DISASTER with a new figurehead (McCain) is a recipe for disaster.

bobgil of MA @ Aug 06, 2008 12:52:37 PM

Seriously...

Get real

DR of FL @ Aug 06, 2008 11:25:30 AM