Read more about Assets & Politics in the Oil Industry

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.

Read more about Assets & Politics in the Oil Industry

Read more about State Energy Profiles

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.

Read more about State Energy Profiles

Read more about GHG Emissions Credit Trading

Sure enough, almost instantly after Republican presidential nominee John McCain introduced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, environmental groups began addressing the governor a friend of “big oil” who puts drilling “above the environment” and enlarged exploration above added protections for endangered species.

However, Palin contends that she has responsibly encouraged projects to exhume fossil fuels the rest of the country urgently requires. Palin backs up drilling in areas of Alaska that environmental groups vehemently oppose and she supports tapping the state’s natural gas reserves and shipping the cleaner burning fuel to the rest of the country.

She has challenged efforts by the Bush administration to list the polar bear as an endangered species fearing curbs on oil and gas drilling, yet her hometown is not far from the site of the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill that impacted fisherman.

But possibly raising the eyebrows of environmental radicals most were Palin’s comments during a recent magazine interview saying she does not consider global climate change is being caused by man-made activities despite scientific research showing the burning of fossil fuels are a leading contributor. A draft report released in January of this year by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation shows oil and gas development by the major oil companies as the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Alaska.

All of which raises an crucial question for November: What do voters expect a governor from an energy producing state — especially one that has some of the largest reserves of fossil fuels beneath the surface — to do when wading through an energy-rich resources landscape littered with environmental minefields? And what do they expect from the next administration when it comes to tapping resources in wilderness areas?

Despite the current global crush for oil, natural gas may be where Palin leaves her biggest footprint in Alaska when it comes to energy development. The North Slope also contains two of the largest natural gas fields in the country - a vital resource for homes that heat with the fuel during the winter considering the United States. Devours about 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas each year, according to the Department of Energy. More recently, politicians on the left and right have mobilized around natural gas as a better alternative to burning coal because it produces fewer emissions.

During her recent interview when asked about global climate change impacts, Palin said the “changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location” but added “I’m not one though who would ascribe it to being man-made.”

Yet in 2007, Palin created a climate change sub-cabinet office to counsel her on greenhouse gas issues and global climate change. A review of the administrative order creating the office, however, never mentions the causes of climate change but says “scientific evidence shows many areas of Alaska are experiencing a warming curve.”

This year voters may have to decide conclusively wherever they stand on the energy-environment divide. As voters ask themselves what an Alaskan governor should do when confronted with oil and gas reserves underfoot and what shelters animal populations and the environment need, they will at the same time have to decide what they are conformable to do without.

Read more about GHG Emissions Credit Trading

Read more about Assets & Politics in the Oil Industry

At his four-day fete in Denver, Democratic Presidential contender Senator Barack Obama attempted to reframe the Presidential race around economical issues he believes give him the strongest appeal to constricted middle-class electors. Now, as the limelight turns to the Republican convention in St. Paul-Minneapolis, rival Senator John McCain takes his turn at trying to define the race around the issues on which he hopes he has a winning hand.

A great deal of McCain’s campaign, of course, is based on his record on national security issues. However, with the economy in the cooler, he acknowledges that he has to make the sale on the economical battlefront, as well. So at the top of the Arizona Senator’s Twin Cities To-Do List will be compounded attempts to convince working-class and independent voters that the Republican alternative he’s offering - low taxes, less government, and ambitious energy drilling - will do more to better the economic system and their lives than the spate of initiatives offered by his competitor.

With his surprise choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain may just have made that task a great deal easier. Surging oil prices have caused energy to emerge as a fundamental topic in the race.

“Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources,” said McCain. “She leads a state that matters to every one of us - Alaska has significant energy resources - and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.”

Recently this week, Palin signed a bill into law giving the state of Alaska authority to award TransCanada Pipelines a license to build and operate the $26 billion dollar 1,715-mile pipeline. It will channel natural gas from the North Slope through Canada to the lower 48 states.

In response to high oil and gas prices, and the resulting Alaska budget surplus, Palin has also recently signed legislation providing a one-time special payment of $1,200 to every Alaskan eligible for the 2008 Permanent Fund dividend. The bill also suspends the state’s motor fuel tax on gasoline, marine fuel, and aviation fuel for a year.

Already, McCain has gained ground with voters with his full-throated endorsing for expanded offshore drilling, along with increased expansion of nuclear power, coal, and other energy sources. Analysts say that position, compared with Obama’s stress on a longer-term strategy to boost alternative energy, is one reason McCain was able to even the race out before the conventions began.

The McCain camp will keep that issue front and center in St. Paul, as it believes energy will provide a decisive distinction for voters as the debate over the rival economic policies heats up. Palin could be a cardinal asset in that fight.
At the convention and beyond, the Palin choice should also help McCain’s attempts to win larger support from women voters, which he will need if he hopes to win. Already, his campaign has made a big bid to woo the unhappy Hillary Clinton voters who have vowed not to vote for Obama.

Read more about Assets & Politics in the Oil Industry

Read more about Investing in Renewable Technologies: Wind, Solar, Geotherm, Hydro, Biomass

According to a latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, voters in the United States are going all out to demand more solar and wind energy — but that does not mean they are opposed to drilling for more oil at the same time.

The opinion poll’s findings indicate that whatsoever political advantage Democrats or Republicans desire to get from the national argument over energy policy will be dependent on how skillfully they bundle their perspectives. Democrats have contradicted amplified offshore drilling and accentuated options to oil. Republicans have demanded amplifying oil exploration to regions presently out-of-bounds. Leaders in both parties have begun struggling for ground someplace in the middle, where a big chunk of electors appear to stand.

According to the Journal-NBC poll, 72% of the responders said that developing alternate energy sources could achieve a great deal. When the question was asked in a different way, 61% of respondents chose developing alternative energy sources as the step that should receive the most stress from policy makers. Twenty-five percent responded that exploring and drilling for oil in the United States should get the most stress, and 12% picked “having Americans economize and utilize less oil.”

When asked whether expanding areas for drilling for oil off coastal states was a step in the right direction, 63% said it was, with 44% saying it would accomplish a great deal. Only 27% said that allowing for further drilling off coastal states was a step in the wrong direction.

Asked about building more nuclear plants, 53% said it was a step in the right direction. Thirty-one percent said it was a step “in the wrong direction.”

The results suggest that the ongoing energy debate between Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic challenger, Barack Obama is not the fight that the American public cares about.

The poll found greater levels of skepticism among voters about releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — an idea recommended by Sen. Obama and many congressional Democrats — and setting aside the federal gas tax, an idea defended by Sen. McCain. Fewer than half of those polled thought those ideas were a step in the right direction.

According to analysts, what the voters are saying is that there needs to be a whole new way of considering troubles, and that they do not want the same old fights and the same old divisions.

After weeks of criticizing expanded drilling, Sen. Obama has said he could support an expansion of offshore drilling, as long as it is part of a “genuine bipartisan compromise” that includes other measures to reduce the country’s oil dependence.

Many Republicans have brushed aside that statement, saying they suspect the Democrats’ proposal will contain other provisions objectionable to their side. Sen. McCain has also continued to attack Sen. Obama on the issue, visiting an offshore oil rig this week to highlight his support for more offshore oil production

Congress is gearing up to return to Washington in September to debate whether to pass new legislation that attempts to respond to high oil prices by funding alternative-energy sources and expanding access to domestic petroleum. Central points in the debate are whether to lift the 27-year-old drilling moratorium that largely covers the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and whether to expand tax credits and other subsidies for alternate energy technology such as wind and solar power.

Read more about Investing in Renewable Technologies: Wind, Solar, Geotherm, Hydro, Biomass