Global warming is an issue pertaining to the world, and is as a result of human interferences and activities. It has not only put the world at risk of a complete ‘meltdown’ of the ice at the poles, but also is destroying the very atmosphere which helps us breathe. Car emissions, burning of fossil fuels, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, all contribute to the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a global catastrophe which the world is trying to cope with. The number of laws set and agreed upon by many a nation, wasn’t signed by USA, the largest polluter in the world, leading to a steady rise in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) over the past few years. Let’s find out what led to this rapid rise in GHG over the last few years in USA.

Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases, both natural and anthropogenic, which emit and absorb radiation of the infrared radiation emitted by the sun and reflected by the clouds. This cycle is known as the greenhouse effect. When anthropogenic gases like pollutants are released into the atmosphere, they can trap radiation, resulting in a heating up of the atmosphere. This process causes global warming.

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With the latest decree of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 17, 2008, most refiners, blenders, and importers of gasoline will have to use renewable fuels like ethanol in place of 10.21% of total gasoline usage. The point is to ensure that about 11.1 billion gallons of fuels will be sold in 2009. The renewable fuel standard is increasing by around 23%, but the percentage requirement is rising by over one third. This is what the statistics show.

Authorities expect that fuel consumption will be lower in 2009 than it was in 2008. Therefore a greater amount of renewable fuels is needed to touch the 11.1 billion gallon mark.

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Either candidate is going to have a very challenging time encouraging a new alternative (energy) if oil comes back down because it (the price) is not going to be seen by most Americans as a crisis anymore. The price of oil has fallen from its high of 147 dollars a barrel earlier this year to around 65 dollars a barrel recently. The prices are further predicted to fall to about 50 dollars in 2009.

It’s going to be increasingly difficult with lower prices to convince people to stop using conventional fuel and use costlier renewables in the near term.

The difficulty Mr McCain or Obama will have is keeping energy or the environment at the center (of their agendas) when it’s believed by households to be the least of the problems they are confronting compared to losing their retirement, savings, jobs and so on.

Americans vote in presidential elections contended by Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain on November 4.

“If the economy is weak, it will be very hard to make the case for an aggressive policy that puts the economy further in jeopardy,” says Frank Maisano from powerful lobbying firm Bracewell Giuliani.

The law firm represents a number of electricity producers.

McCain and Obama are both committed to putting in place a system of emissions trading and fixing a target for reducing carbon dioxide, ideas opposed by President George W. Bush.

Barack Obama wants to reduce carbon dioxide emission by 80 percent in the next 50 years, while McCain wants a cut of 60-65 percent.

The Democrats, who are expected to increase their majority in the Congress in the elections, are divided on the energy issue.

Democrats from coal-producing states such as Western Virginia or Montana or those from car-producing states such as Michigan will probably oppose environmental or energy measures that damage their industries.

Analysts believe that it will be difficult for the next president to convince Congress to spend money on renewable energy efforts or climate change because of the existing large budget deficits and focus on the economy.

Obama has pledged to spend 150 billion dollars on a program to promote technology for renewable energy, which he hopes will generate thousands of new jobs.

McCain has promised to build 45 new nuclear power stations.

Obama and McCain also support the idea of having a commercially available electric car in the next two to three years with batteries that can be quickly recharged from the mains.

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The most important concern in the latest presidential election campaign in the U.S. is the energy policy issue. Both the Republicans and Democrats are addressing this issue and both are keen on cutting down expenditure on foreign oil and also the large scale reliance of U.S economy on the foreign oil.

You may find out what each candidate is saying by taking a look at the following. Democratic candidate Barack Obama as well as Republican candidate John McCain are paying serious attention to energy issues. Analysts have commented on their policies and it is explained for you in lucid terms below.

OFFSHORE DRILLING

Initially Obama was against lifting the congressional moratorium on drilling in federal lands off U.S. coasts. Recently however he has switched to supporting limited expanded offshore drilling as a part of broader legislation to help solve America’s energy problems.

McCain defends expanding the offshore drilling program to tap the projected 18 billion barrels of oil that is present on the outer continental shelf of U.S. He has said that this will be done without harming the environment in any way.

STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE

McCain is against opening up the reserved stock pile of oil unless he feels, what he calls, a serious shortage far outreaching the demand or disorder in the supply machinery.

Initially, Obama too opposed releasing oil from the reserve unless there was a critical disruption of supply, but he has recently changed his stance and now supports releasing 70 million barrels of light sweet crude, later to be compensated by heavier crude.

WINDFALL PROFITS TAX

Obama supports a tax cut for middle and lower middle classes. He wants to do this via a five-year windfall tax on profits of large scale oil companies. The burden of high energy prices will thus be compensated by the tax from large oil companies themselves. The middle and lower middle classes therefore can enjoy the benefits of a $1,000 tax rebate under the Obama presidency.

McCain is against burdening the oil companies with new taxes.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Obama wants to give an impetus to alternative fuel usage by means of a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy “advanced” automobiles. He wants over a million plug-in hybrid cars on the go by 2015. Obama also wishes to raise the Renewable Fuel Standard to at least 60 billion gallons of highly developed biofuels like cellulosic ethanol by 2030; create a proper ethanol distribution infrastructure, direct that all new vehicles be “flexfuel” by the time his first term in office ends. He wishes to ensure the production of 2 billion gallons of “cellulosic” ethanol from non-corn sources like switchgrass by 2013.

McCain however is against ethanol inducements and has said that he would abolish the import tariff on sugar cane-based ethanol. Basically, he is against subsidies and tariffs that disrupt market practices; he wants a $5,000 tax credit for buying zero carbon emission cars; He wants a tiered structure that gives highest tax credit to the least carbon emitting car. McCain too, backs the usage of “flexfuel” automobiles.

SPECULATION ON FUTURES MARKETS

Obama has advised government control on trading and regulated exchange. He wants proper information on markets especially on index funds and other similar ventures. He supports legalized sanction and directives issued to the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission to look up proposals which suggest increasing margin requirements in the market; He backs closing up the Enron Loophole.

McCain on the other hand is worried about the speculative nature of the market. He too backs closing the Enron Loophole, looking into probable market exploitation and manipulation and making new laws and regulations regularizing the oil futures market to make them more clear and successful.

NUCLEAR POWER

McCain wishes to create 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030, and finally wants 100 new nuclear plants built in U.S. He backs the storing of nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada desert.

Obama too backs the usage of nuclear power, but feels that nuclear waste disposition and proliferation is an important concern too. He is against the Yucca Mountain plan.

GASOLINE TAX HOLIDAY

McCain has given a proposal of the gasoline tax holiday. In it he would deflect funds from general government revenues compensating for transportation projects funded by the tax.

Obama is against temporarily removing the federal tax on gasoline. He thinks that temporary tax benefit is not the real answer to the problem.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama wants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; that is take it to the 1990 level by 2020.He wants the reduction of carbon content by 10 percent by 2020.

McCain wants a CO2reduction too, he wants to lower emissions by 30 percent by 2050.

OIL USE

McCain wants U.S to be self reliant by 2025 in its oil usage. Obama wishes to lower down oil usage by at least 35 per cent or 10 million barrels per day by 2030, to reduce the reliance on OPEC nations.

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Obama is against Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling. McCain wishes to have more offshore oil drilling, does not back ANWR drilling at the moment.

ENERGY RESEARCH

Obama wishes to spend $150 billion over 10 years on low-carbon energy sources, double R&D expenditure on biomass, solar and wind resources; speed up commercialization of plug-in hybrids, encourage low-emissions coal plants.

McCain has proposed giving $300 million to the auto company that invents a car battery that will ensure that U.S is free from oil usage. He wants to spend $2 billion every year to encourage clean coal technology.

VEHICLE FUEL ECONOMY

Obama wants to double fuel economy standards in 18 years; encourage auto makers by giving them tax incentives for making new engines and lightweight materials.

McCain does not have specific Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets. He backs increasing fines for auto companies that violate CAFE standards and wants to give tax benefits founded on carbon emissions of automobiles.

ELECTRICITY

Obama wishes to ensure that renewable energy is used by U.S utilities for at least 25 percent of their work by 2025.

McCain wants the government to ensure increased investment to improve and advance the national grid; he wishes to make sure that the grid has the capability to charge electricity run automobiles on a large scale and backs the use of SmartMeter technologies. This SmartMeter technology will ensure that consumers get an accurate estimate of their energy usage and promote cost effective usage of power.

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Chrysler unveils three new models of plug-in electric car, one of which will be available to the public as soon as 2010; part of a decision by the company to eventually use some form of electrical power in all of its vehicles.

Chrysler has quietly developed its electrically powered offerings as their competitor General Motors proudly announced the Chevrolet Volt, which will soon go into production and is also projected to be available to consumers in 2010 and is built on their E-Flex platform, which the company may employ in the manufacture of a wide range of vehicles.

“We’ve kept a pretty good secret here, perhaps because we haven’t tooted our own horns,” said Tom LaSorda, vice chairman and president of manufacturing and business development for Chrysler. “We believe action speaks louder than words.”

Rather than designing all new vehicles, Chrysler plans to instead incorporate electrical power into its existing offerings. According to Chrysler executives, this will allow the company to develop the powertrain more effectively instead of having to expend their resources on the design and production of entirely new models; this development model will permit the company to use this new technology across their entire product line.

“We’re not talking about a car, we’re talking about a full line,” said Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli. “We are staking out a leadership role in the future of the automobile.”

Investments such as the new powertrain displayed by Chrysler on Tuesday may have to be delayed if Congressional approval for $25 billion in loans to automakers to refit their plants for the production of fuel efficient vehicles does not come through, Nardelli says.

In the absence of these loans, Nardelli says:”We are going to have to make some very tough trade-offs.”

Chrysler showed its new electric powertrain with a small gasoline engine for backup to recharge the batteries after the plug in charge has been used (about 40 miles) IN ITS Jeep Wrangler and Town & Country models. Chrysler also presented an all-electric sports car, the Dodge EV. This vehicle has only a lithium-ion battery which holds a charge lasting about 150 miles before requiring a recharge.

Two of the three models seen Tuesday will be available to consumers in 2010; however, Chrysler has not yet determined which two. The electrically powered models will be more expensive than their gasoline-powered counterparts but will cost 15%-20% less to run, according to Chrysler.

Consumers who purchase all-electric models like the Chevrolet Volt and which ever all-electric model Chrysler ultimately decides too put into production could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500 under new energy legislation passed by the Senate on Tuesday. It is not yet certain if plug-in hybrids would also be eligible for this tax credit; the measure must still pass the House and receive presidential approval.

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Toyota is expected to announce today that it will be reexamining an alternative fuel technology which it had previously dropped: compressed natural gas.

Currently, only Honda manufactures a CNG-powered car; the company plans to produce double the number of these CNG Civics for the American market next year as it has produced in 2008.

Toyota plans to show off a pre-production version of a hybrid CNG-electric Camry in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Toyota has not as yet committed to production, but the new vehicle is timed perfectly to meet with an increased interest in CNG-powered cars.

“With this concept, we are confirming our interest in pursuing CNG,” says Irv Miller, a vice president for the U.S. arm of Toyota Motor Sales. Miller touts CNG’s lower cost, higher availability and lower emissions as compared to gasoline. A Toyota-sponsored press conference here advanced the argument that natural gas is much less scare than are oil reserves, warranting a second look at CNG as an automotive fuel.

Toyota is “testing the waters,” says John O’Dell, senior editor for Edmunds Green Car Advisor. “They want to be ready” if CNG seems set to make a comeback.

Toyota’s announcement comes as natural gas is being promoted as an important energy source. T. Boone Pickens, the Texas energy tycoon has promoted natural gas and wind power as the central elements of his “Pickens plan” for U.S. energy independence. One of the U.S.’s largest natural gas producers, Chesapeake Energy, has been using advertisements to promote CNG as an alternative fuel.

Toyota’s new focus on CNG “demonstrates there is a great deal of attention at progressive auto manufacturers who are looking at the opportunity to use a clean, abundant, affordable, American fuel,” says Chesapeake Energy Senior Vice President Tom Price.

Almost ten years ago, there were several auto manufacturers offering CNG powered cars; however, when public interest waned, these models were quietly withdrawn from the market. CNG vehicles historically have had the disadvantages of having less trunk space than gasoline powered cars due to the larger fuel tanks required and less mileage per tank of fuel.

There is also the disadvantage that there are a mere 1,000 CNG fuel stations in the world, only half of which are available to average consumers, making it difficult to refuel a CNG vehicle.

However, climbing gasoline prices have sparked enough interest among the public that Honda says there is a months-long waiting list for the CNG-powered Civic. The company plans to produce 2,000 CNG-powered Civics next year. The CNG-powered Civic GX will be priced at $25,090, about $7,000 more than gasoline powered models.

The GX is only being sold directly to consumers in the states of California and New York at present - as gas prices have risen, so has demand, says Honda spokesman Chris Martin.

Martin continues by stating Honda’s support for CNG-powered vehicles from other manufacturers: “We think it helps acceptance” of natural gas as an automotive fuel to have models available from many different makers.

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