WHY I SUPPORT OBAMA: ENERGY

I am often asked WHY “I SUPPORT OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT.” This is usually followed by the comment that he doesn’t give a plan and I probably only support him because of his pretty rhetoric. So, I would like to address one of several areas that Sen. Obama has a plan for that is better than Sen. McCain’s plan: ENERGY. This is not the only reason I support his candidacy, but it is a major reason for that support.

Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have fairly similar plans for a comprehensive national energy policy. Both want to improve auto mileage standards (although the Obama plan is more aggressive), both want to make better use of alternative energy sources that include bio-fuels, wind and solar. Both see alternative energy as the “space race” of the new millennium, a way to increase American technology and to create jobs for a struggling economy. Leading Americans forward to develop new resources is a goal of both men. The differences are mainly found in their stance on drilling and their view on nuclear energy.

So why is this one of the MOST important reasons I support Sen. Obama? Because it is so important and we are so short of time to make progress. The issues we discuss today are issues that we knew were issues in the 70’s….we just did nothing about them. And that is one of my fears of McCain. He has been in Washington as a Senator for 28 years and has done nothing to develop alternative sources. In fact, Sen. McCain has voted AGAINST bills that would have promoted their development on at least nine separate occasions. Drilling, nuclear energy, new sources will all take time to bring on line. We don’t have much time. The longer that we wait for the RIGHT solution, the harder it will be to break our dependence on foreign oil. The Middle East is extremely unstable and unfortunately our livelihood as a nation is tied directly to our need for foreign oil. Due to the Iraq War, we have lost what little diplomatic influence we had. The Iraq War has proved the difficulty of using military force to stabilize one country much less the entire region.

It will be essential for the next president to lead us into a new way of thinking about our energy usage. That requires both vision and the ability to inspire Americans to support the changes needed. I think Sen. Obama is the one best suited to inspire us to change. I also think that his younger age gives him the ability to think outside the box more than Sen. McCain. I feel he is more in touch with the younger generation who will ultimately have to change their lifestyle to adjust to the new technology.

One of the greatest critiques of alternative energy is that the technology has not been available. But now it really may be. Over the past two years there have been two massive developments concerning alternative energy. The first is the development of a flexible solar panel. It is made of a flexible film that converts ALL wavelengths of light from ALL angles. It can be bent to fit any shape and placed anywhere. It currently has limited availability but will be widely available in three years. The second is the plan proposed by T. Boone Pickens to turn large areas of the Midwest into wind farms. These wind farms are located in remote areas and have the added advantage of bringing a viable industry to rural America. Having a major business figure behind a company designed to seriously promote alternative energy is a major asset that has been missing from the equation for too long. Both McCain & Obama have expressed interest in his plan.

But if the plans are so similar, why do I support Obama on his energy policy? Because of the differences! Sen. McCain is too intent on drilling to solve our problems. While more drilling is going to be necessary in the future, it is not the answer to our problems. For one thing we don’t have enough oil to make a significant difference. America uses 25% of the world’s petroleum, but we only control at best estimate 10% of the world’s oil. No matter how much we drill, we will need to come up with other sources of energy. Not only would it take years to drill, we do not currently have the refining capacity to make the oil useful. There is also a backlog in the industry of new well installation as it is. (Just because you authorize more drilling doesn’t mean that the drill platforms will get set up any quicker.) Also, the oil will be placed on the world market for bid, not kept solely for U.S. consumption. So drilling would be advantageous for oil companies, but Americans get no such promises.

There are those who insist that we have more oil than the experts think. “How do we know how much oil we have until we drill”, they ask. The problem with that philosophy is that we don’t know. This philosophy is a little like going “all in” on a poker hand without knowing for sure what your hole cards are. It’s a suckers play.

Sen. McCain also favors nuclear power. The problem with that is three fold. One, if an accident happens the consequences are unbelievable for anyone nearby. While I realize that we have gone for many years without an accident at a nuclear facility…it only needs to happen once. Two, we have to store the used uranium somewhere safe. That becomes a real issue as the French are discovering. (They supply most of their energy needs through nuclear power, but are discovering that they are running out of space to store the waste. Never confuse the term “LOTS” with infinite. Eventually you have more waste than safe places to store the waste.) Three, the cost and time to build ONE new reactor is huge. Sen. McCain’s energy plan calls for 45 new reactors at a total cost of 315 Billion dollars! There are other avenues that will show results sooner and cheaper than we can bring new reactors on-line. Those are the options we should focus on.

Senator McCain has also seen a tendency to pander to us with silly energy ideas. He offers a huge reward for the first American to build a better battery for auto use. The reason this is silly is simple. Anyone who invents such a battery will make a fortune off of the patent rights! People are already researching hard to achieve this goal without the “reward” because the idea is worth so much on its’ own. His battery reward is a trick of smoke & mirrors to make you forget that Sen. McCain has been in the Senate for 28 years without working on this issue before.

He also advocates a “gas tax Holiday”. But those gas taxes are what we use to maintain and build new infrastructure for our highways. So while I am able to save about $100 a summer (I drive a lot for my job) it won’t save me money if I bust an axel on a road that hasn’t been properly maintained. Sen. Obama has been honest with us about why he sees it as a bad idea and that is refreshing in this election.

It seems that most of America falls within two camps now, those who feel that drilling will save us because we have more oil than we realize and those of us who think it is essential that we move away from an oil based energy policy. At this stage, nobody really knows who’s right or who’s wrong. The difference is that if I’m wrong and we build this great infrastructure that emphasizes alternative energy...we have the alternative sources and more oil. That means the price of oil goes down. If I’m right and we run out of oil (or are cut off by embargo or the wells are damaged in a hurricane) then your children will spend some future winter night sitting in a very cold and very dark house telling stories to your grandchildren about the “good old days”.