The Obama/McCain Energy Charade

While out of the country I recently came across an article in a Thailand english language newspaper. A company called "Detroit Electric" is negotiating to build a new plant in either Thailand or Indonesia to assemble hybrid components of its new auto components for hybrid cars. They use their own light gas or natural gas engine and a battery system that gets 200 miles on a 6 to 7 hour charge, it can do 0 to 60mph in 5.6 seconds! and has nearly 0 emissions.Wow I thought why are we outsourcing what sounds like a great product, when we have tons of empty auto factories and workers available now.Imagine my surprise to find in reading on that the we was actually a German company which had bought the rights to the name, the company went out of the electric car business in "1907"! They have French investors and are looking for others even in the US. T.Boone Pickens where are you when we need you? And to top it all these components can be installed in any pre-existing car it was a Lotus that tested 0-60mph in 5.6secs. Energy policy what policy again we are being scooped by the rest of the world using our own factory name to sell cars!

Curtis Gwin Jr of WA 9:21AM September 08, 2008

Both candidates continue to confuse imported oil with energy. The U.S. has all the energy it needs and the ability to produce much more than it needs from present and all the new developing technologies.

The U.S. uses imported oil to produce fuel for the internal combusion engine. Moving people and goods from one place to another.

Substituting other fuels for gasoline and jet fuel with renewable fuels (mostly in flex fuel vehicles) is all that is needed to become independent of imported oil.

It worked for Brazil that is today totally independent of imported oil driving flex fuel vehicles made in the USA.

Meantime, while the transformation is taking place, conservation and trying all other types of vehicles (hybrid electric, compressed natural gas, etc.) will help.

But continuing to burn up the world's supply of oil will rob future generations of the many products made from refining crude oil into petrochemicals that they will need to continue mankind's exploration of our solar system and beyond, as well as everyday products such as this computer made possible by the efforts of people that came before us.

HillBillyBill of TN 12:53PM August 07, 2008

Senator Obama's solutions will create worse problems than they attempt to solve. Having the oil companies pay $1000 to each family might help take away some of the sting from families buying gasoline in the very short term (like a few days) but will do nothing to curb oil consumption. The additional cost of the $1000 rebate to each family will have to come from somewhere and it is highly likely that the oil companies will raise oil prices to cover it which means that it will be passed on to those same families that are hurting. Tapping the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will do very little to decrease prices or the demand for oil for any period longer than a few weeks. It will however put our nations security at risk as this reserve is diminished and limit our flexibility should something worse happen in the oil markets. After all, that is why we have the reserve.

The speculation in the market for oil boils down to supply and demand. Looking out a few years in the future it is widely known that supply will continue to decrease while demand continues to increase. Sending a message to the speculation market that supply will be increasing in the future as the U.S. starts to tap domestic oil supplies is the only way to break this. Obama's plan does not include such a strategy, while McCain's does.

The costs associated with switching all Americans over to hybrid cars and green energy sources will be huge and should be met with some resistance as it will make $4.00/gal gasoline look like nothing. Your power bill will double and you will have to replace your current car. These costs are not even touched upon in his plan.

The biggest problem that the U.S. faces is our dependence on foreign oil. We are transferring all of our hard earned wealth to our enemies. Let's focus our attention on getting off foreign oil by developing our own resources and as we do that we can begin building the infrastructure that will be required to make a complete switch to electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells or whatever the best alternative fuel will be. These technologies are still in development and are not ready for wide distribution yet. Let's buy the time we need so we don't create more problems than we are trying to fix.

Joe of NV 2:22PM August 06, 2008

The ONLY solution to the energy crisis is the same solution for the climate change crisis is the smae solution to competing with China & Inia to buy oil is the same solution for depending on people in the world that don't like us to provide our oil:

MASSIVE EMERGENCY SUBSIDIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLE SOURCES OF CLEAN NON-DANGEROUS ENERGY.

By 'massive' I mean equal to the amount we are throwing away in Iraq massive.

THE BUSH/CHENEY DISASTER MUST END BEFORE WE CAN SOLVE THE ENERGY CRISIS.

Obama is no saint, but continuing THE BUSH/CHENEY DISASTER with a new figurehead (McCain) is a recipe for disaster.

bobgil of MA 12:52PM August 06, 2008