Senator McCain's energy plan:
Drilling offshore - we are drilling offshore now and can easily expand to new areas.
Nuclear power - We have plants in the planning stage. Their construction should be accelerated.
Wind - needs a new power grid costing billions of dollars. Very good for rural windy areas.
Solar - at $50,000 per average house it is not yet affordable.
Tide - Harnessing the tide with dams. In use in some northern areas. Very limited.
Natural gas - a major source of our electricity. Could be used as fuel for fleets of cars and trucks.
Vehicle engine designs:
Flex fuel - engines using gasoline, ethanol, and methanol or bio diesel. An inexpensive addition to
Hybrid - vehicles using electric motors plus small conventional engines for extra power and charging. The most efficient vehicle power design today.
Clean coal technology - liquid fuel from coal. Also refers to coal power plants with carbon capture. We have the greatest coal reserves on the globe. We have to use it or export it.
With the variety of existing plus new fuels and technology Senator McCain addresses the number one problem of the middle class: Jobs. It is estimated that his plan could create 6,000,000 new jobs.
|
Senator Obama's energy plan:
Solar - at $50,000 per average house it is not yet affordable.
Wind - needs a new power grid costing billions of dollars. Is Pickens willing to pay for it?
Biodiesel - vegetable oil or animal fat. Requires energy to produce. Would be feasible with nuclear energy.
Geothermal - Power from the earth's heat. Geothermal ranges from high temperature geysers to heat pumps. Ceap, efficient but limited.
Oil - "we should look at offshore drilling". We have been looking at it for thirty years!
Natural gas - Although senator Obama did not mention natural gas we believe it is an important part of his energy plan.
Nuclear energy - Did not mention nuclear energy. In the past he was consistently against it.
Vehicle engine designs:
Does not mention designs but calls for fuel-efficient vehicles.
Senator Obama's calls for abandoning existing technology and switching over to technology that is still being developed or at this stage too expensive. Calls for the government to pay for new technology, an expense that has been paid for by private industry in the past. The government only provided some tax incentives.
Senator Obama claims that building windmills and fuel-efficient vehicles will create 5,000,000 million new jobs. In realty, our existing motor vehicle plants and their existing employees could handle all of the work.
|