What is the forecast for our energy future?

“Do we really know Barack Obama?” “He talks about hope but does he have any real plans?” The talking heads on evening talk shows and news networks, such as MSNBC, CNN and Fox News have become obsessed with these questions. I originally set out earlier today to find hard facts comparing John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s plans regarding energy and environmental issues. What I was amazed to find was that it is extremely difficult to compare and contrast the two candidate’s positions because McCain’s, not Obama’s, plans were remarkably, or unremarkably, ambiguous. Why put so much concern into the ambiguity in McCain’s energy and environmental agenda? An ABC/Washington Post poll that recently came out showed 33% of American’s were most concerned about the economy and 6% about energy issues. I would argue though that the future of the United States’ economy is tightly linked with the future of the United States’ energy plans. If, as there is good reason to believe, green energy becomes the next big industry it would behoove the United States’ government and major industries to begin to take the lead in the global market, supplying our nation and the world with the environment- and pocketbook-friendly technologies that could soon be in high demand. Unfortunately I have no way of figuring out if McCain holds this point-of-view. There is a good reason to believe he is (disclaimer: this is not an attack on his age!) confused. His proposition for a cap-and-trade carbon reduction plan gets two thumbs up along with his critical view on corn based ethanol production. Most recently though his proposition to eliminate the gas tax raised concerns that he might be inclined to environmentally and economically disastrous policies; I plan to dedicate an entire post to the gas tax fiasco later. And while his cap-and-trade policy is well-defined, and his position on the gas tax was made quite clear, he lacks significant policy descriptions concerning ethanol or any other related issue. What conclusions can I draw? For one, if McCain thinks a cap-and-trade carbon plan is all that is necessary to move the United States’ forward into a green economy he lacks foresight. If he cannot come up with any other ideas he lacks knowledge or creativity. Or if he is too afraid of conservative critics attacking government investment in clean energy and technology then this is another example of McCain caving in to the more right-wing elements in the Republican Party. As for Obama, I have both likes and dislikes regarding his policy, more likes than dislikes as you might guess. Overall I am most happy that Obama delivers a substantive policy for me to critique. I plan to post my views on Obama’s energy and environmental policies in the near future, and will compare them as best I can to McCain’s. Author- Liam de los Reyes