As each day of “Energy Watch 2008” ticks by here at TMV I find myself more and more puzzled by the tactics being employed by Senator Obama’s campaign. Today, it seems, he’s showing up in the Buckeye State to talk about energy. (Well done!) Unfortunately, the message being put forth leaves me scratching my head.
“McCain has taken a page out of the Cheney playbook.”
“Under Senator McCain’s plan, the oil companies get billions more, we don’t pay any less at the pump, and we stay in the same cycle of dependence on oil that got us into this crisis.”
It wouldn’t take much prompting to get me started on a tirade against Dick Cheney for any number of reasons, but the fact is that I’m not fighting the 2004 election. And no… I did not approve of Dick Cheney’s energy task force, the way they conducted business or the resultant energy policy. But do I need to remind Senator Obama that John McCain actually voted against the 2005 Bush-Cheney energy bill? And oh, just by the by… Obama voted for it? Hello? Is there anyone left around here who knows how to organize a political campaign?
And has Barack Obama even looked at the Lexington Project? While it is true that the Cheney plan had us staying with familiar old patterns of purchasing oil and dumping cash into the pockets of nations who are no fans of ours, McCain’s plan (whether you approve of domestic drilling or not) is actually trying to produce more of our own oil and other energy sources so we’re not so dependent?
Look, I don’t like seeing oil companies recording record profits while we pay through the nose at the pumps either. It’s a great populist message which I’m sure resonates everywhere. But no presidential policy is going to affect private sector profits in an open, capitalist system unless you attempt some insane “windfall profit” tax that targets one industry for unbalanced taxation on profits earned. Senator Obama should at least be looking at every method possible to increase domestic production to boost supply. (And BOTH of them should be calling for reductions in demand at home.)
Nothing should be off the table. While Obama rails against McCain’s supposed Cheney style plans, the Arizona Senator is in Michigan visiting the Enrico Fermi nuclear plant to make his case for more nuclear power. Senator Obama has recently begun making some noises about allowing us to expand nuclear power in this country, but his record is far from assuring on this score.
Obama Said He’s “Not A Nuclear Energy Proponent.” Obama: “I start off with the premise that nuclear energy is not optimal. I am not a nuclear energy proponent.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Town Hall Event, Newton, IA, 12/30/07)
I really want the candidates to debate this issue and for both of them to come to a sensible, productive plan for our nation’s future energy needs. But lately I’m almost wishing Obama would stop talking. I’m getting a headache.