McCain Wants Government to Fund Push for New Energy Technologies
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Related subjects: Energy Supply, J.E. Robertson, Renewable Resources, Sustainable Development, U.S. Economy, U.S. Politics, Vote 2008, Zero-combustion Paradigm Comments (2)
In a speech today in California, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pledged to create a fund to grant $300 million to anyone who can invent a significantly more powerful car battery, which would make hybrid and electric automobiles more viable as a replacement for petroleum-fueled cars, and promised to give $5,000 tax credit automakers for every zero-emissions vehicle sold. He also demanded that automakers help make every new car “flex-fuel” vehicles, and speed the move away from petroleum powered automobiles.
The Republican presidential candidate said the US cannot sustain its reliance on oil as an energy resource, for economic, environmental and security reasons, and cited the long history of American innovators, their hard work and ingenuity and the role government has often played in backing revolutionary research. He urged technological innovation be treated as a logical next step in the evolution of American industry and consumer culture, paving the way for surpassing oil as both primary fuel source and primary pollutant.
While the market, government, and the agricultural industry wrestle with the pros and cons of a shift to corn ethanol as a 2nd standard national fuel source, McCain went beyond his call for flex-fuel vehicles that would permit drivers to use “alcohol-based fuels”, such as corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol. He said the government needs to actively seek to help innovators achieve “leapfrog” technologies, that shoot past efficiency based solutions that remain dependent on burning fossil fuels.
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Pittsburg Business Journal reports that:
McCain also favors evening out tax incentives for alternative fuels rather than focusing on just ethanol. He also wants tougher fuel efficiency standards and pushing the country and its automobiles towards flex-fuel vehicles that run on a mix of gasoline and alternative sources.
McCain’s push for a green energy policy is driven by a number of factors: 1. Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign has been close to the ethanol industry, and Obama has been out in front on the issue of moving away from oil as a basic economic engine; 2. McCain has long prospered as a moderate who was green on environmental issues, but has lost ground on that point as he sought to court conservative Republican and pro-business constituencies; 3. high oil prices and economic hardship mean a platform without such a bold initiative will fall short of voters’ demands this November.
McCain had previously favored ending ethanol subsidies, but now has proposed balancing subsidies for non-petroleum-based fuels across the spectrum of “alternative” energy sources. Obama has favored subsidies for ethanol, and has promised he would work to implement a requirement that all new vehicles be able to run on ethanol, essentially a demand for automakers to speed the transition to “flex-fuel” vehicles, as are common in Brazil, and as McCain demanded in his speech today.
McCain’s specific call for “zero-emissions” vehicles is the boldest yet by a major-party candidate for the US presidency, and may drive the Obama campaign to rethink its reliance on bio-ethanol as a proposed alternative fuel source, as a matter of policy. Cafe Sentido sister publication TheHotSpring.com, proposes that the future of energy lies in the “zero-combustion paradigm“, that may soon replace burn-to-extract energy processes.
McCain’s move for a green technology initiative may also be related to worrying poll numbers. After a poll last week cited Obama taking a measurable lead in several battleground states (Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio), the UK’s Independent newspaper reports today that:
Democratic Party strategists are daring to hope and starting to campaign for a landslide election victory, after Barack Obama opened up a 15-point lead over John McCain in the latest presidential race opinion poll.
The Newsweek poll shows Obama leading McCain 51 to 36 percent, nationwide, with a serious possibility of the Republican candidate losing states Democrats have hardly contested in recent elections. McCain has struggled to distance himself from the policies of Pres. George W. Bush, after pledging to continue or intensify the Iraq war effort and backing Bush’s interrogation and surveillance policies.
Obama has been shown to have better support on economic and environmental issues, perhaps pushing McCain to take a bold step in claiming alternative fuels as his own territory. Obama is organizing paid campaign staff in all 50 states, and is likely to be making his case nationally, hoping to rob McCain of reliable Republican strongholds, while the Independent reports, “The Newsweek poll shows a record low 14 per cent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction, with the economy and petrol prices topping the list of concerns”, making it far more necessary for McCain to craft his own image on energy and the economic future.
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[...] proposals such as that of US presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), offering $300 million to anyone who can invent the new technology that makes car batteries significantly more… (a vital step in reducing reliance on petroleum) could spark new directions in automotive [...]
[...] proposals such as that of US presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), offering $300 million to anyone who can invent the new technology that makes car batteries significantly more… (a vital step in reducing reliance on petroleum) could spark new directions in automotive [...]