The Obama/McCain Energy Charade

Good Article and accurate!

Either Barrack or McCain are credible candidates for President! In Barrack you have an American hating Black Power Racist & Socialist. In McCain you have an confusing mixture without any clear principles or beliefs but on the whole seems to be an little to the Left of Hillary Clinton. At any rate McCain is no more an Republican than Jr. the Stupid!

Black Saint of OK @ Aug 06, 2008 06:05:24 AM

Good Article and accurate!

Either Barrack or McCain are credible candidates for President! In Barrack you have an American hating Black Power Racist & Socialist. In McCain you have an confusing mixture without any clear principles or beliefs but on the whole seems to be an little to the Left of Hillary Clinton. At any rate McCain is no more an Republican than Jr.the Stupid!

Black Saint of OK @ Aug 06, 2008 05:56:31 AM

Out Now; In Later . . . At Higher Prices

I find it amusing that people want to use strategic petroleum reserves to produce gasoline for ordinary use.

If we do that, we'll just end up having to replace the used petroleum at much higher prices later on.

China and India aren't going to significantly reduce their energy demand anytime soon. In fact, as their billions move into the middle class, they will use increasingly large amounts of oil in the decades ahead.

The only short-term (5 - 10 years) solution is to find and produce more petroleum. That should have been done all along, but environmental groups convinced naive Americans and the Congress that was a horrible idea.

If additional nuclear plants were started today, they could come online in about decade -- if we deal with the endless lawsuits from the ones on the left who want us all to go back to the lifestyles of the 1700s.

Electric autos will help, but I haven't seen the SUV owners in my neighborhood rushing out to buy them yet, and they're not rushing out to buy Priuses either. Another decade or two of battery R&D may change their attitudes on both.

Right now, our best hope is oil and nuclear -- resources that the party in charge of the Congress does not want to develop.

It may take the election of McCain and a failed Democratic Congress in 2009 - 2010 to convince the American people to elect people who have realistic ideas about how to get out of this self-imposed energy mess -- one that could have been totally avoided if "environmental" pressure groups hadn't been able to hijack the Congress for the last three decades.

Rich Gannon of CA @ Aug 06, 2008 01:50:11 AM

The long view

At least Obama's plan is based on reducing demand as opposed to McCain's plan that focuses on increasing oil supplies. Obama seems to be more pragmatic and has a longer view because his plan is based on the less politically convenient call for changing our behavior and making some sacrifices to not only help the planet but save us money. What's more expensive in the long run, drilling for oil or using te sun and wind? It's all about having vision. So ask yourself, whose vision looks to improve the way we, and future generations, live. Let's look past our own selfish needs and realize coal and oil are bad for the planet, follow a plan that focuses on reducing the use of these detrimental fossil fuels.

bt of IL @ Aug 06, 2008 01:01:52 AM

What is it about the urge to drill, drill, drill?

I can't begin to see the logic behind the Rep. congress members' frenzy to begin opening new areas to drilling Right This Minute.

Can't they read? Can their aides not read? Has nobody told them about the empty leases, on land and offshore, that are already in the hands of the oil companies? Has nobody mentioned the fact that it would be years before they could get drilling ships to the areas where oil is supposed to be found?

I guess the answer is that they are, in fact, "the handmaidens of the oil companies", as Pelosi named them before she turned out the lights.

Obama said today, "Those guys seem Proud of their ignorance."

Yep

Evangeline31 of CA @ Aug 06, 2008 00:39:06 AM

Advice for McCain

The liberals won't vote for you in a general election. Also, moderates are only liberals who can't make up their own minds. The further you stray to the left, the more it gives conservatives a reason to stay home. Wake up and smell the roses.

Earl Snyder of KS @ Aug 06, 2008 00:17:22 AM

NOT A CHARADE

Nobody knows just how much oil may be under the North Slope of Alaska and under the Beaufort Sea. Also, estimates of how much oil is in the Bakken Field under North Dakota range from 50 billion barrels to 200 billion barrels. Just demonstrating that we have the will to go after all the domestic oil we can as agressively as we can would have a long term impact on the price of oil. The idea that none of this oil would hit the market for ten years is willful fiction on the part of the Dems. Oil industry engineers say that a fair amount of it could be flowing in 36 months.

I agree that boosting the average fuel economy of all cars sold in the US is something that MUST be done. Volkswagen has been making diesel Jettas and Passats for fourteen years now that get 35-40 mpg city and 45-50 mpg highway. These cars are not by any means underpowered, and they are not tiny little "econoboxes" I do not understand why the Big Three are not making cars like this. If our government had any sense at all, they would offer the auto companies whatever incentives and sweetheard deals were necessary to have cars like this rolling off the assembly lines within 24 months.

As far as McCain or anybody offering 300 mil for a battery to power electric cars, GM, Toyota and Nissan did it ten years ago. There are still a few of the battery powered Toyota Rav 4's on the road with 300,000 miles on them and the batteries still going strong. They can go 120 miles on a charge that costs about $3.00 worth of electricity. The new Tesla Car Company is now offering a battery powered roadster that can go from zero to sixty in 3.9 seconds, and goes 240 miles on a charge. GM killed the electric car because they realized that it would never need tuneups, or expensive repairs and parts, would never even need new brakes (differential braking), and people would drive them FOREVER - thus no planned obsolescence.

The Repubs have the right idea when they say drill here/drill now, and also when they say "all of the above" - nuclear,solar, wind, drilling. I would add to the list a Manhattan Project to have 40-50 mpg cars widely available within 24 months, and another Manhattan Project to have fast, efficient, and affordable mass produced all-electric cars as soon as possible. If we actually had the will and the determination to do these things, we could be laughing at OPEC in just a few short years.

George of AZ @ Aug 06, 2008 00:12:52 AM

Free the Oil Producers

It is not the province or purpose of government to dictate how energy producers supply their customers, nor under what conditions those customers can or should trade with them.

The only proper government energy policy is: Hands Off!

Not only will that have the practical effect of reducing gas prices as quickly as possible, but it is the only moral choice. Oil companies have property rights; their customers and they have the right to free trade. Any interference in that transaction violates those rights.

It's about freedom -- not just the price of gas.

Jeff Perren of ID @ Aug 05, 2008 23:28:37 PM