Obama Camp Hits McCain on Energy

Barack Obama advisers today slammed John McCain's energy stances - saying the Arizona senator has flip-flopped on issues such as CAFE standards, and that his support for drilling in the Outer Continental shelf is just one example of energy solutions that merely "tinker around the edges" of our very expensive problem of oil dependence.

"He just has rhetoric but doesn't back it up with any substance," Obama's economic policy director, Jason Furman, told reporters during a conference call.

Despite all the "rhetoric" on how it's vital to our national and economic security to reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil, McCain "looks the other way when the tough decisions come," added senior energy adviser Jason Grumet. They called his gas-tax holiday proposal the "perfect storm of political pander."

Advisers were asked about an article today that looks at the close relationships some of Obama's advisers and supporters have with the domestic (corn-based) ethanol industry. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, for example, is an adviser who serves on the boards of three ethanol companies and works on renewable energy issues at a Washington law firm.

Obama's people said the candidate has always stressed that corn-based ethanol is a "transitional" fuel and has argued that we need to accelerate to a new suite of advanced ethanols. They hailed his past work on CAFE standards as brave, given the fact that the issue used to be a political hot potato, and noted that the fuel economy bill Congress passed last fall was almost exactly the same as what Obama introduced the year before. See how Obama wasn't afraid to "roll up his sleeves" to tackle tough issues? That's the kind of president he would be, they argued.

At the same time, McCain today released a new TV ad entitled "Energy Security." View below
McCain also today outlined his energy plan in Fresno, Calif. He criticized current CAFE standards, saying they aren't effectively enforced, and slammed the government for its current practice of subsidizing corn-based ethanol while still collecting tariffs on sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil.

He said:

"Instead of playing favorites, our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline, lowering both gasoline prices and carbon emissions. And this can be done with a simple federal standard to hasten the conversion of all new vehicles in America to flex-fuel technology -- allowing drivers to use alcohol fuels instead of gas in their cars. "

Also:

"And if I am elected president, they will. Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress, we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil."

McCain also said he would issue a "Clean Car Challenge" to American automakers in the form of a tax credit based on the reduction of carbon emissions. For every automaker who can sell a zero-emissions car, the McCain administration would commit a $5,000 tax credit for each customer who buys that car. For other vehicles, the lower the carbon emissions, the higher the tax credit.

He also proposed offering a $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to outperform plug-in hybrids or electric cars.

AP has a good piece today on the promises and pandering from both sides.