Energy

I’m sure by now you’ve seen Paris Hilton’s response to John McCain’s attack ad:

Well, The Christian Science Monitor decided to take a look at the Hilton Energy Plan.

Joseph Romm, a former Clinton energy adviser and the blogger for Climate Progress, estimates that offshore drilling would net “under 100,000 barrels a day in supply sometime after 2020 — some one-thousandth of total supply.”

And, despite its assertions, McCain’s campaign actually knows better. In June, senior McCain campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin acknowledged to the LA Times that “new offshore drilling would have no immediate effect on supplies or prices.” He should have added that it will have no real long-term effect, either.

Seems like this just keep coming up doesn’t it?  Let me emphasize it one more time just to make sure the point is made:

Offshore Drilling will not have an effect on oil prices.

Despite what John McCain may say, Offshore Drilling is a scam.  It’s a way for Republicans to claim they are providing a solution, without really addressing the problem.  It sounds good, but does nothing.  Don’t believe their lies.

Barack Obama isn’t going to let ignorance steal this election:

Delivered today in Youngstown, Ohio.

We meet at a moment when this country is facing a set of challenges unlike any we’ve ever known. Right now, our brave men and women in uniform are fighting two different wars while terrorists plot their next attack. Our changing climate is putting our planet in peril and our security at risk. And our economy is in turmoil, with more and more of our families struggling with rising costs, falling incomes and lost jobs.

So we know that this election could be the most important of our lifetime. We know that the choices we make in November and over the next few years will shape the next decade, if not the century. And central to each of these challenges is the question of what we will do about our addiction to foreign oil. 

Without a doubt, this addiction is one of the most urgent threats we’ve ever faced – from the gas prices that are wiping out your paychecks and straining businesses, to the jobs that are disappearing from this state; from the instability and terror bred in the Middle East, to the rising oceans, record drought and spreading famine that could engulf our planet. 

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I‘m watching MSNBC and David Shuster asks if Obama is just playing politics as usual because he’s attacking McCain on energy.

So, is Obama supposed to just do nothing?  He’s not allowed to point out the differences between himself and McCain?  Give me a break.  Obama calling out John McCain for McCain’s bullshit energy solutions (offshore drilling is a good example), is not Obama playing politics as usual.  It’s Obama telling the truth to voters and trying to take our country towards real energy independence.

Barack Obama’s well known campaign message is “Yes We Can.”  John McCain, however, seems to be saying “No We Can’t.”  Why can’t we?  Well, because McCain has no plans.  The McCain campaign is seriously lacking in the planning department.

Analysts caution that both McCain and Barack Obama have produced policy pronouncements that are just as much election documents as workable proposals; after all, that is what presidential candidates do. But when it comes to the metric of paper produced, McCain trails Obama in spelling out the nitty-gritty.

“The Obama people are much more detailed,” said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan advocacy group dedicated to balancing the budget.

That’s just what we need, a president with no plan.  Let’s say, for example that you want to know McCain’s plan for Social Security.  Good luck figuring that out.  The Wall Street Journal noticed that John McCain himself doesn’t seem to be quite sure:

On Sunday, he said on national television that to solve Social Security “everything’s on the table,” which of course means raising payroll taxes. On July 7 in Denver he said: “Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won’t.”

This isn’t a flip-flop. It’s a sex-change operation.

He got back to the subject Tuesday in Reno, Nev. Reporters asked about the Sunday tax comments. Mr. McCain replied, “The worst thing you could do is raise people’s payroll taxes, my God!” Then he was asked about working with Democrats to fix Social Security, and he repeated, “everything has to be on the table.” But how can . . .? Oh never mind.

Yesterday he was in Aurora, Colo., to wit: “On Social Security, he [Sen. Obama] wants to raise Social Security taxes. I am opposed to raising taxes on Social Security. I want to fix the system without raising taxes.”

Great, let’s elect the guy who has no idea what he’s going to do when he gets into office.

Oh but I forgot!  McCain does have a plan for our energy crisis.  He’s going to make sure we drill offshore.  What are economists saying about that plan?

When McCain has focused on domestic policy, it has generally been to offer headline-grabbing plans, such as his proposal for a gas tax holiday and his claim that allowing offshore drilling could have an immediate effect on gas prices, both of which were almost universally derided by economists across the ideological spectrum. [The Politico]

And Paul Krugman says:

Most criticism of John McCain’s decision to follow the Bush administration’s lead and embrace offshore drilling as the answer to high gas prices has focused on the accusation that it’s junk economics — which it is.

A McCain campaign ad says that gas prices are high right now because “some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America.” That’s just plain dishonest: the U.S. government’s own Energy Information Administration says that removing restrictions on offshore drilling wouldn’t lead to any additional domestic oil production until 2017, and that even at its peak the extra production would have an “insignificant” impact on oil prices.

What’s even more important than Mr. McCain’s bad economics, however, is what his reversal on this issue — he was against offshore drilling before he was for it — says about his priorities.

How are so many people even considering voting for this guy?

Here are the top five reasons why I am voting for Barack Obama:

1. The Economy - In 2009 the United States is projected to have a deficit of more than $480 BILLION.  Our national debt is quickly climbing to $10 TRILLION.  Republicans have run our economy into the ground with their irresponsible fiscal policies, and our children (and their children) will pay the price.  It is no easy task to pay off $10 trillion dollars in debt.  As if our nation’s cash flow problems weren’t enough to be concerned about, the American people aren’t doing so great these days either.  With gas at $4 a gallon, and many foods at all time high prices, many American families are struggling to get by.  Jobs are being lost, and not being replaced.  Paul Krugman posted a graph of employment growth for each president back to Dwight Eisenhower.  Notice the clear difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.  The Republican Party has proven time and time again that they are not good stewards of the economy.  It’s time to go with a Democrat.
2. The Iraq War - The Iraq War was a mistake from day one.  Saddam Hussein was a terrible human being, but he posed little threat to the United States.  He had no weapons of mass destruction; he was surrounded by nations that despised him and would contain him (Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Iran - not to mention the American patrolled no fly zones).  Furthermore, Saddam had no role whatsoever in the planning, funding, or execution of the 9/11 attacks.  Yes, the Iraqi people are better off without Saddam Hussein.  But Iraq distracted us from the war we should have been fighting.  It is still distracting us from the war we should be fighting.  The Iraqi government and military can step up and take control of their nation.  It’s time for the United States to withdraw and refocus it’s military efforts where they are most needed.  Barack Obama supports withdrawal in 16 months so that we can do just that.  Which of course brings me to reason 3.
3. The War in Afghanistan - Obama recognizes that Afghanistan is the central front in the War on Terror.  He advocates sending at least an additional two brigades to Afghanistan.  We should have had these extra troops there in the first place.  It is well documented that Osama bin Laden was in Tora Bora when we bombed it, but slipped out through the mountain passes.  We did not have enough troops to adequately secure the area to assure his death or capture.  This is a mistake that will not be made a second time if Barack Obama is president.  On September 11th, 2001 Al Qaeda, on the orders of Osama bin Laden, attacked the United States and killed more than 3,000 people.  in the 7 years since the Bush Administration has failed to capture or kill bin Laden.  It’s clear that Republican priorities are flawed, but John McCain wants to continue those policies.  Barack Obama will capture kill Osama bin Laden because his foreign policy will be focused on Afghanistan and dismantling terror networks, rather than foolish and costly preemptive wars.
4. Health Care - The health care system in the United States is a mess.  Despite spending far more on health care than any other industrialized nation, Americans often receive worse care.  American life expectancy and infant mortality rates have fallen behind other modernized nations.  A major part of the problem is that the lack of quality, affordable health care means that our system focuses on curing an illness rather than preventing it in the first place.  Barack Obama has a health care plan that will give access to quality, affordable health care to every single American.  John McCain does not.  If your health is important to you, the choice in this election is clear.
5. Energy - Our economy and our planet are both in peril and a major reason is our dependence on fossil fuels.  Not only is this an economic and ecological problem, but it is also a national security problem.  We cannot rely on foreign sources of energy and maintain our position as the worlds only superpower.  John McCain’s solution is to drill offshore, drill in Alaska, and drill everywhere else we can put an oil well.  But we can’t drill our way out of this problem.  Barack Obama’s energy plan will guide our nation to energy independence with the use of clean, renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar.

Posted By: Nick

 
There’s been a lot of buzz about T. Boone Pickens and his energy plan lately.  This is the man the funded the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth; his actions quite likely gave Bush his second term.  He’s a multi-billionaire, and an oilman.  And suddenly, over the last few weeks, he has become one of the loudest voices calling for the country to switch to renewable energy and get off of foreign oil.

His plan calls for a massive investment in wind and solar energy, and a switch to natural gas powered transportation.  In addition he wants the U.S. to build more nuclear power plants.  He stands to benefit from this plan as a major provider of natural gas, and as a new leader in wind power: he plans to build the largest wind farm in the world.

Still, despite his personal financial interests, he is right.  We need to make some real changes in our energy infrastructure.  His continued insistence that “we can’t drill our way out of” this problem is helpful to Democrats this year, many of whom are using that same line.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=R2bOug1d20c]

The NYTimes has an Op-Ed up today with more detail on Pickens and his energy plan.

Posted By: Nick

 
Senator Diane Feinstain (D-CA) writes in the LATimes today about Offshore Drilling.  I find myself frequently disagreeing with Feinstein so it’s refreshing to have her on the right side of this issue.

There is no quick fix to $4.50-a-gallon gas, no way to provide instant relief to consumers we know are hurting. Yet President Bush and others continue to push the false promise of offshore oil drilling.

Just this week, the president lifted the executive order banning drilling that George H.W. Bush put in place in 1990. And he’s asked Congress to lift its own moratorium on oil exploration on the outer continental shelf — which includes coastal waters as close as three miles from shore.

This would be a terrible mistake. It would put our nation’s precious coastlines in jeopardy and wouldn’t begin to fix the underlying energy-supply problem. And it surely wouldn’t ease gas prices any time in the near future.

Correct so far.  Offshore Drilling is a Republican scam.  It’s a fake solution to the oil issue, designed to get easy votes.  Feinstein then points out the fun fact that many people aren’t aware of:

Meantime, energy companies haven’t fully utilized their existing permits to drill on another 68 million acres of federal lands and waters. Exploiting these areas probably could double U.S. oil production and increase natural gas production by 75%.

You see, the oil companies have access to millions of acres, but they don’t want to deal with them.  If they did, we’d have a substantial increase in oil production, even more than offshore drilling would provide.  Why aren’t they drilling where they have access already?

Feinstein points out the fundamental truth to our situation:

We cannot drill our way out of the energy problem. Our nation doesn’t need smooth talk and rosy scenarios. We need a clear-eyed view of our energy situation….

Changing our nation’s fuel consumption pattern is an enormous endeavor. It will take years. But this is the reality we face. And there’s no time to waste.

I’m glad she’s taking the lead on this issue and pushing for some real solutions instead of feel-good measures that will only worsen our situation in the long run.  Great job Senator Feinstein!

The following is the text of Al Gore’s major energy policy speech given on Thursday, July 17th, 2008.

There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment.

The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more - if more should be required - the future of human civilization is at stake. I don’t remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously. Our economy is in terrible shape and getting worse, gasoline prices are increasing dramatically, and so are electricity rates. Jobs are being outsourced. Home mortgages are in trouble. Banks, automobile companies and other institutions we depend upon are under growing pressure. Distinguished senior business leaders are telling us that this is just the beginning unless we find the courage to make some major changes quickly.

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