Issue Paper - Energy Policies of Barack Obama and John McCain

For the first time in our nation's history, we find ourselves faced with the difficult

task of replacing the outdated source of America's energy with more advanced, more efficient, cheaper, and more easily renewable sources. As the world's largest consumer of oil, America must find a way to wean off this addiction that forces us to circulate money into foreign economies, has destructive effects on the environment, and causes American citizens to pay at-times exuberant prices to support the luxuries that the American lifestyle promotes. In this year's election, both Barack Obama and John McCain have proposed plans for such a transition, but the two candidates offer differing strategies for the implementation of these technologies vital for America to gain energy independence and reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

A key component of both candidates' energy plans is a short-term method of easing the pain of high gasoline prices. Obama has proposed an initiative that would give an energy rebate to all Americans worth $500 for every individual or $1000 for any married couple to be funded in full by new windfall taxes on oil companies over the next five years. Obama will also write legislation that will make it difficult for market speculation to affect oil prices, while releasing oil from the United States' Strategic Oil Reserve in an attempt to reduce prices. While McCain acknowledges and will attempt to regulate the role of speculation in the energy market, he opposes a windfall tax on oil manufacturers, as he feels that it will only further promote the use of foreign oil with little to no benefit to Americans. McCain believes that promoting efforts to increase domestic oil production in the form of off-shore drilling will provide an immediate relief from high gas prices, while Obama claims that this will only raise more environmental concerns and may take up to thirty years to have any tangible impact on the oil market.

In both McCain's and Obama's long-term plans for America's future, both recognize the importance of moving towards clean and inexpensive sources of energy for vehicles and American homes. Both McCain and Obama will grant tax credits for the purchase of either plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles; McCain will give consumers a $5,000 credit, while Obama will grant a $7,000 credit. Both pledge to enforce fuel economy standards and encourage automakers to invest in new energy technologies. McCain will reward a $300 million prize to whoever can develop a battery viable for use in consumer-level vehicles. Obama will provide $4 billion in tax credits and loans to domestic automakers to invest in American research and development programs, while McCain will establish a permanent 10% tax credit towards research. Obama further promises to convert the entire White House fleet to plug-in electrics within his first year as president, and to ensure that half of all vehicles purchased by the federal government be electric-powered by the year 2012. Obama and McCain both emphasize the role of clean coal technology and nuclear energy in powering American homes, along with supporting further development and research in wind, solar, and hydro power. However, while McCain is confident in the use of nuclear power and wishes to build 45 new plants by the year 2030, Obama is concerned about the safety and security of such technology and wishes to withhold investments in nuclear energy until certain safety standards for the storage of nuclear waste have been established. McCain and Obama are confident that the research and implementation of these essential technologies will create many new American jobs. Obama is hopeful that over 5 million jobs will be created, and has proposed a "Green Vet Initiative" in which the large number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will be tapped to enter the new job market. McCain has said that his energy policies will create many new jobs, but has not set a concrete estimation of the number of jobs that he will create in the energy sector as president.

Both McCain and Obama are proponents of an economy-wide "cap-and-trade" system to aid in limiting greenhouse gas emissions. A cap-and-trade system would force companies to purchase pollution credits from an auction. If a company has extra credits, they can sell them to other companies for cash, which would encourage ingenuity on the part of every company in reducing pollution levels. McCain and Obama have each set goals for emission levels. McCain hopes to reduce pollution to 2005 levels by 2012, with a level 60% below 1990 achievable by 2050. Obama has set the final goal of having pollution levels to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, which is the level scientists predict would be needed to end human-caused climate change.

Among the other contentious issues in this year's election, the debate over America's energy policy seems to be the one with the most common ground shared between Senators McCain and Obama. The two have similar end goals for America's energy future with only minor differences between the two plans on how to arrive at that goal. While Obama's plan at this point is more specific, it relies far more heavily on tax-payer dollars to fund than McCain's plan. In the end, however, voters will not be voting for either candidate based upon their energy plans, but rather on other issues such as the economy and the continuing war in Iraq.