Both front runner US pres have sensible energy bill

fifthcolumn · Post by **fifthcolumn** » 12 Feb 2008, 17:28

A comparions of Obama and Mccain:
Both of the front runners for the US presidential election are supporting a move away from petrol based vehicles towards plug-in hybrids.
None of the two of them are supporting hydrogen.

Personally I prefer Obama because he hasn't come out and openly said he wants to bomb Iran (unlike McCain).

It would be nice if we could get our own government to get their fingers out.

Post by **clv101** » 12 Feb 2008, 17:30

I prefer Clinton as Bill's read Party's Over and Leggett's book Half Gone.

fifthcolumn · Post by **fifthcolumn** » 12 Feb 2008, 17:47

clv101 wrote:I prefer Clinton as Bill's read Party's Over and Leggett's book Half Gone.

Hillary's platform certainly looks impressive: her "green jobs plan" looks exactly like the type of thing the yanks ought to be doing.

Obama, however, is no slouch. He authored a bill for energy efficiency which appears directly targeted at peak oil. He calls this the FREEDOM act.

Seems the americans like their buzzwords although the Patriot act is anything but.

Erik · Post by **Erik** » 26 Feb 2008, 10:10

Check out Obama's energy policy on his web page:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/

Reduce Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
Invest in a Clean Energy Future:
- Invest $150 Billion over 10 Years in Clean Energy
- Double Energy Research and Development Funding
- Invest in a Skilled Clean Technologies Workforce
- Convert our Manufacturing Centers into Clean Technology Leaders
- Clean Technologies Deployment Venture Capital Fund
- Require 25 Percent of Renewable Electricity by 2025
- Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology
Support Next Generation Biofuels
Set America on Path to Oil Independence
- Obama's plan will reduce oil consumption by at least 35 percent, or 10 million barrels per day, by 2030. [I guess this could happen whether they like it or not !]
Improve Energy Efficiency 50 Percent by 2030

Or at length in this pdf file:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/E ... tSheet.pdf

I had a look around Clinton's website too - plenty of similar hip energy policy there - but, let's face it, she's out of the running.
John McCain's website doesn't seem to include energy as a separate issue at all

, though it get's a brief mention under "Environment", where he drones about

"harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, to the market faster, reduce our dependence on foreign supplies of energy, and see to it that America leads in a way that ensures all nations do their rightful share."

Does "seeing to it that America leads in a way that ensures all nations to ["do" must be a typo?] their rightful share" mean what I think it means?

Adam1 · Post by **Adam1** » 26 Feb 2008, 12:41

fifthcolumn wrote:Hillary's platform certainly looks impressive: her "green jobs plan" looks exactly like the type of thing the yanks ought to be doing.

Obama, however, is no slouch. He authored a bill for energy efficiency which appears directly targeted at peak oil. He calls this the FREEDOM act.

It would be good if Obama and Clinton could run on a joint ticket. Whoever loses the Democratic primary race would be Vice-President.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 26 Feb 2008, 13:23

Remember McCain thinks the world was created 6000 years ago so he must think oil can be created pretty quickly.

EmptyBee · Post by **EmptyBee** » 01 Mar 2008, 20:41

biffvernon wrote:Remember McCain thinks the world was created 6000 years ago so he must think oil can be created pretty quickly.

I had no idea McCain had such close ties to the religious right.

Texan televangelist and McCain endorser John Hagee:

"The United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plans for both Israel and the West biblically prophesized end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to Rapture, Tribulation and the Second Coming of Christ."

McCain initially welcomed Hagee's suppport, but I gather he has since attempted to put some distance between them:

?Yesterday, Pastor John Hagee endorsed my candidacy for president in San Antonio, Texas. However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee?s views, which I obviously do not,? McCain said today in a statement, ?I am hopeful that Catholics, Protestants and all people of faith who share my vision for the future of America will respond to our message of defending innocent life, traditional marriage, and compassion for the most vulnerable in our society.?

McCain's staff has plenty of neocon hawks too. I'm not convinced his energy policy would be much different in practice to Bush's.

In other news: Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early!

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 03 Mar 2008, 12:12

McCain should stick to making chips.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 03 Mar 2008, 12:15

Andy Hunt wrote:McCain should stick to making chips.

Yes doesn't he sponsor the Fire Brigade?

EmptyBee · Post by **EmptyBee** » 03 Mar 2008, 15:09

Andy Hunt wrote:McCain should stick to making chips.

skeptik · Post by **skeptik** » 03 Mar 2008, 20:03

Erik wrote:.... their rightful share" mean what I think it means?

Um... probably means "ensure that the 8% of the world population living in the USA continue to enjoy their consumption of 60% of the worlds resources... "

Adam1 · Post by **Adam1** » 04 Mar 2008, 10:35

biffvernon wrote:Remember McCain thinks the world was created 6000 years ago so he must think oil can be created pretty quickly.

I didn't realise that. I thought he came from the more "sensible" side of the Republican Party.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 04 Mar 2008, 11:59

Which may say something about the less sensible side.

Actually I've not much idea what he really thinks in private, but he has publicly supported the teaching of 'Intelligent Design' within state schools. However, most of the references for this point to August 2005, so he seems to have been pretty quiet on this issue during the recent campaign.