Bicycles and politics - part 2

Alrighty. I've spent some time on the McCain website. Like Sen. Obama, Sen. McCain articulates a stance on energy - "John McCain On Energy For A Secure Nation."

The basic premise of McCain's statement is that our dependence on foreign sources of oil threatens our national security and provides direct support to our enemies. I'll dig into this in my next post, but for now let's just take this at face value. Anytime you're dependent on a resource you don't control, the person who controls that resource has leverage over you. If you have to pay that person for the resource and you don't particularly like each other - you're supporting your enemy.

So what does McCain propose to do to mitigate this leverage? I suggest you read the full content by following the links I've provided, but for you PowerPoint junkies here are the bullet points:

• We must increase oil production "here at home."
  
• McCain supports the development of alternate sources of power for our vehicles and the promotion of energy efficiency.
  
• McCain will "effectively" enforce existing CAFE standards (the mileage requirements auto makers must meet).
  
• McCain believes alcohol-based fuels hold great promise as both alternative to gasoline and as a means of expanding consumers' choices. Two subpoints - isolationist tariffs and special interest subsidies are not moving us toward an alternative fuel choice; and he supports flex-fuel vehicles.
  
• McCain will issue a clean car challenge - offering a tax credit for each and every customer who buys a zero-emissions car.
  
• McCain will propose a $300MM prize to improve battery technology for full commercial development of plug-in hybrid and full electric automobiles.
  

The McCain site also goes into more detail about The Lexington Project - basically his plan for strategic energy independence by the year 2025. This is basically an expansion on the bullet points above and is an interesting read. Included her is a link to his June 2008 speech on the Lex Project.

One observation to leave you with here - both candidates take on the issues of alternate energy sources, domestic production, and fuel efficiency. Only Obama seemed to venture into the question of changing the way we live - actually lessening our dependence on travel by automobile - as part of the solution to our dependence on petroleum, foreign or domestic. Would it be a stretch to label that a "maverick" idea?

Next time - my humble opinion on bicycles and politics.