McCain talks up oil drilling, green energy
John McCain says nation must drill new oil wells now, while supporting innovative transportation technologies and "the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas."
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)ST. PAUL, Minn.--John McCain formally accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination here on Thursday in a speech extolling the virtues of both oil drilling and green energy.
The Arizona senator received one of his loudest rounds of applause when he lashed out at his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, and characterized the dispute over oil drilling as a matter of international relations and security as well as economics.
"We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much," McCain said. "We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now."
He added: "Sen. Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet."
McCain's speech comes a day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his vice presidential pick, said her state was ready to provide more energy for America. "The fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.
McCain went out of his way to tout green technology. In addition to building more nuclear power plants, he said: "We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles."
A comparison of McCain and Obama's energy plans shows that the Republican opposes existing federal government ethanol production targets and would eliminate a tariff on Brazilian ethanol, a move that would expose U.S. producers to more competition. Obama supports the ethanol regulations (one factor that has led to higher corn prices), wants to raise automotive fuel-efficiency rules, and is not willing at the moment to support expanding nuclear power.
Last month, Obama signaled he might be open to new offshore drilling in some circumstances.
Declan McCullagh, CNET News' chief political correspondent, chronicles the intersection of politics and technology. He has covered politics, technology, and Washington, D.C., for more than a decade, which has turned him into an iconoclast and a skeptic of anyone who says, "We oughta have a new federal law against this." E-mail Declan. 
Do you remember the energy crisis calamity that occurred in California about 5 years ago after refusing the build power plants for 15 or so years? So many were pretending to be Enviromentalists, with a capital "E," until the other states that were supplying the power needed it for themselves.
The country as a whole is essentially where California was before that crisis.
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of watching their coverage of the Republican National Convention.
It was terrible ... nothing but personal attacks. They mentioned the fact that Barack has missed or abstained from most of his senate votes. Personal attack. They mentioned the fact Barack has never had a leadership role in his Senate career and has spent most of it campaigning for president. Personal attack. They mentioned Barack has never governed a state, a city, or even a business. Personal attack. They mentioned that Barack voted against the Iraq surge that he later declared successful. Personal attack. They mentioned that Barack doesn't like nuclear energy and prefers foreign oil over American oil. They even mentioned that Barack's wife is not proud of America. Personal attack after personal attack. Thankfully, they didn't mention Barack's ties to the racist Reverend Wright or the terrorist Bill Ayers.
In a nutshell, the republican's whole message was hate hate hate. I just don't understand their hate. (Editors' note: Offensive comment removed.)
That does not sound very open minded, and you are also ignorant. I'm tired of bleeding heart liberals polluting internet forums.
I completely agree with you. I am tired of people with Guerilla tactics, who are questioning my intellect with their stupidity. Luckily more of us understand this low-blow. open-mind, dont underestimate your own stupidity, it is glaring and pitiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9oh3gqOEKU
:-D :-D :-D
As a society, our energy needs are now such that fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources can not meet demand. Any investment on them is just delaying the inevitable and not addressing the issue.
As a society, our energy needs are now such that fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources can not meet demand. Any investment on them is just delaying the inevitable and not addressing the issue." So, when do you think the "Renewable" Hudro-Power Resources are going to be kicking in? This From A "Republican" View Point!
Its funny that people who claim to be objective yet attack one another over party politics.
If you look at the above quote, it shows a major difference. Obama hasn't thought out his strategy. Be a protectionist, protecting US farmers and cause higher food prices due to the higher, artificial demand for corn.
No Nukes? Nuclear energy is the most cost effective form of producing energy. Its possible that we can build new plants that are more efficient in design.
McCain understands that Geothermal, Nuclear, and even solar farms take time to build. Drilling for oil is the near term solution. (granted that it won't have an immediate impact, however it will come to fruition earlier than alternatives.)
One also has to ask... if companies are not willing to build expensive "clean" technology without huge tax incentives, is the technology really ready for prime time?
Exactly my point if you read the comment I just posted below this one.
- by bj1126 September 5, 2008 10:57 AM PDT
- cmstratton,
- Reply to this comment
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(18 Comments)Fact is fossil fuels can meet the demand for a solid 50 years at least. The problem being we don't want to use them that long. No one, and trust me I'm as conservative as they come, wants to still be driving gas powered automobiles in mass 30 years from now. Hell 20 is even pushing it. I personally want a flying car well before then but that's a whole different can of worms no one has bothered addressing yet.
The problem is that the renewable energy industry is still very much in its infancy. It needs time to mature before we flood it with government funding. There's only so many people out there capable of developing this stuff and trust me they are finding the money they need. Shoveling hundreds of billions of dollars into the industry right now will not improve development time. It will only a government dependent artificial bubble of bad tech created by scammers wanting to cash in. There's a ton of them out there already. Look at the debate about the tax credits and all the people crying crocodile tears over its possible lapse.
We need time to let the industry develop and mature and to provide real solutions. I'm confident that it is possible and eagerly look forward to that day. That day however is 10-15 years or more down the road. We can't sacrifice our economy and livelihood for the next 10-15 years under the false premise of environment. Our oil IS going to come from somewhere. If we don't get it ourselves who else will be as environmentally conscious about it's extraction as us? Russia? Cuba? Brazil? This idea that not drilling is saving the planet is a case of out of sight out of mind. Someone will do the drilling for us if we don't and no one is likely to do as good a job at preserving the environment when they do it.
Further more I also live in Florida. Oil companies say they can start extracting the oil off our coasts in as little as 18 months not the 5-10 years that we are told it will take. This will create jobs in a state whose economy is hurting right now and will help lower gas prices and improve the economy of the entire nation. We're not short on resources. We can ramp up domestic production over the next 5 years and at the very least hold our gas prices in check until real alternatives are developed.
The idea that if we don't keep gas prices high new technologies won't be developed is ludicrous. We all see the need for this and the promise of it. A good example of why we want to keep government money out of it until maturity is the ethanol industry. Look at what those mandates have done to the prices of foods and goods around the world. Ethanol wasn't ready to be mainstreamed. We are still not even sure if its exhaust is better or worse than gasoline. What hidden costs will be associated with mainstreaming renewables in their current state? We simply do not know and with whats at stake we should.