Op-Ed

McCain’s Energy Plans Trump Obama’s

“Not since the gas lines of the 1970s has energy loomed so large as it does in the race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama,” says energy expert Kenneth Medlock from Rice University. We have seen record breaking prices for oil, gas, electricity, and heating in the past year. These issues, along with an expanding concern with global warming, have made energy problems one of the top issues in the 2008 election. The best way that our country can handle these matters is through John McCain’s energy reforms and policies.

Drilling offshore for oil has become one of our country’s largest energy concerns. In 1981, Congress banned all drilling in the 1.76 billion acre Outer Continental Shelf, which is the sloping underwater area between our continent and the deep ocean floor around the U.S. While Obama wants to beat around the bush and drill in tiny portions of the Outer Continental Shelf, McCain wants a complete repeal of the ban on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf. The U.S. has estimated that there are 86 billion barrels of oil out there. That’s enough oil to supply our country comfortably for fifteen years. Economically, the impact of such drilling would extend further than just the price at the pump. Employment and investment would rise as a result of lifting the moratorium. In the long term, it could reduce our much maligned trade deficit and help curb the influence of the Middle East on global politics. It is in our country’s best interest to lessen our dependency on foreign oil, and McCain’s idea would be a great way to start.

Electricity is also one of the most substantial energy problems our country faces. McCain’s plan to cope with this problem is to build 45 new nuclear power plants which emit zero of the gases that cause the greenhouse effect. Obama is skeptical of this plan and wants to first deal with the issues of the security of nuclear fuel and where to stock the waste that comes from the power plants. “He’s (Obama) putting so many caveats on it, he’s saying in effect we’re going to do nothing,” quotes Deborah-Wince Smith, the president of the Council of Competitiveness which is a group of university presidents, CEOs, and labor leaders. McCain has already solved the problem of storage for the nuclear waste. He plans to make a repository in the Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Department of Energy has given the okay for the location, but some of the recent risks like earthquakes, have postponed these plans for now. The Yucca Mountain is still a very likely possibility though. The 45 new power plants would add significantly to the nation's current fleet of 104 active plants, which produce about 20% of the nation's power. The two candidates also butt heads on coal, which powers 50% of the U.S. but makes up for 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions, which is the main greenhouse gas. Both McCain and Obama want to create technology that traps and contains carbon dioxide from the coal plants. McCain wants to continue building the coal plants, while counting on his nuclear power plants helping out with the cutting of carbon dioxide emissions. This is a more superior plan than Obama’s plan of cutting some of the coal plants now to cut carbon dioxide emissions and designing new ones that wouldn’t be ready for use until at least ten or more years from now.

McCain is planning to back big fines on carmakers with low miles per gallon. By making the penalties for not meeting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CASE) harsher, McCain plans to drive companies to increase the overall miles per gallons of their cars. CASE is the average miles per gallon of a manufacturer’s entire fleet manufactured in U.S. McCain also wants to give $5,000 tax credits for zero-carbon-emission cars like battery-powered ones. However, he does not side with mandating that all cars run on some sort of alternative fuels, as that would seem unrealistic with our situation with fuels today. Obama has an almost unrealistic plan of increasing the U.S. fuel-economy standard by 4% each year permanently. That would mean that the standard would be 49.5 mpg by 2025, which seems very farfetched to me. McCain’s plan of raising CASE levels is much more feasible. McCain’s plan for an improved fuel economy will help our nation achieve national energy security, reduce carbon emissions, and improve local and regional air quality.

I have done my research and come to the conclusion that McCain’s energy polices clearly trump Obama’s plans. Americans cannot afford to waste any energy, so I ask that none be wasted on Obama. John McCain’s energy plans will propel our country into a very dynamic future.