Is John McCain's $300m battery prize a good idea? Pelosi chimes in
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has come out swinging RE energy issues these last few days, with the two big stories for us being the $300m battery prize money and all that talk about nuclear. Of course, the Democrats can't let all these ideas go un-remarked upon, right? 'Coure not. Therefore, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement yesterday (pasted after the break) on McCain's energy proposals. As far as the battery money goes, Pelosi did not criticize the idea directly, but instead took aiim at McCain's previous lack of support for "more efficient cars, new energy technologies and green jobs" and she repeatedly connected him to still President Bush. Not the most effective strategy to shoot down an opponent's proposals, perhaps, but this is politics, not a real debate. I think our own readers did a fine job of pointing out some of the flaws in McCain's proposal. Maybe Pelosi should be taking tips from y'all. Press Release:
Pelosi Statement on Senator McCain's Energy Proposals
WASHINGTON, June 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on Senator John McCain's energy proposals:
"With American consumers and businesses struggling as the price at the pump cascades across our economy, Senator McCain's proposals show he aims to continue the 'drill and veto' policies of the current Administration. John McCain's energy proposal is an attempt to divert attention away from his recent flip flop and his support of the failed Bush-Cheney policies that have resulted in skyrocketing gasoline prices for consumers and skyrocketing profits for Big Oil.
"Last week, Senator McCain reversed himself and said we need to drill more. Today, he has reversed years of failing to support more efficient cars, new energy technologies and green jobs. Democrats welcome a debate on energy independence from Senator McCain, but we just don't know which John McCain we are debating.
"Americans are suffering under the Bush-Cheney-McCain policies that were written by Big Oil: $4 a gallon gasoline; $136 per barrel oil and increased reliance on foreign sources of energy. Americans need and deserve a consistent vision for energy independence that will invest in real solutions from their next President."
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Some of McCain's Missed Opportunities on Energy
RENEWABLE ENERGY TAX INCENTIVES
Sen. John McCain missed two critical energy votes on H.R. 6, The Energy Independence and Security Act, in December 2007. These votes - on December 7th and 13th - would have stopped debate and allowed a vote on an energy bill that included critical tax incentives for renewable energy sources - a bill to strengthen national security, lower energy costs, reduce global warming, grow our economy and create new jobs, and increase American energy independence. These votes were critical to making a $21 billion investment in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency, including a $3,000 tax credit to help working families afford fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. On the morning of December 13th, Sen. John McCain was the only United States Senator to not vote on this measure. The cloture vote needed sixty votes to pass. It failed, 59-40 and Senate Republicans forced the tax credits to be stripped from the larger energy bill in order to protect $13 billion in subsidies for Big Oil. [Senate Vote #416, 12/7/07; Senate Vote #425, 12/13/07]
The New Direction Congress has already passed innovative energy legislation (http://speaker.gov/issues?id=0031) and will bring the following four additional proposals to the House floor this week:
-- Reducing Transit Fares (H.R. 6052) - Gives grants to mass transit authorities to lower fares for commuters pinched at the pump and expand transit services.
-- Cracking Down on Price Gouging- Gives enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and punish those who artificially inflate fuel prices, similar to legislation passed last year.
-- Closing the "Enron-like London Loophole" for Petroleum Markets - Takes steps to curb excessive speculation in the energy futures markets, which experts have noted is driving up the price of a barrel of oil.
-- "Use It Or Lose It" for Oil Companies Holding Permits and Not Drilling
- Compels the oil industry to start drilling or lose permits on the 68 million acres of undeveloped federal oil reserves which they are currently warehousing, keeping domestic supply lower and prices higher.
[Source: Office of the Speaker of the House]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tony Belding 11:41AM (6/24/2008)
Thus far McCain has started out with a dumb idea (gas tax holiday), then moved on to an idea that's not bad but not terribly helpful either (more offshore drilling).
McCain accused Obama of rehashing the same old failed energy policies from the 1970s and the Carter administration. Meanwhile, McCain was rehashing the same old failed energy policies from the 1980s and the Reagan administration. I think it's fair to say Reagan did more to get us into today's oil crisis than Carter did.
And yet, McCain now brings us this . . . intriguing new proposal. The devil is in the details, and there's a lot that could go wrong, but I still like it more than anything I've previously heard out of either candidate. I like his attitude, that it's time to start inventing our way out of this problem. That's what America does best.
McCain has advocated nuclear power, which Obama seems reluctant to talk about. I'm pro-nuclear, but still it was an odd thing for McCain to say in today's context of high oil prices. You can't get gasoline out of a nuclear plant. New battery technology and electric cars could resolve that little problem.
If I didn't know better, I might suspect that McCain has been doing his homework, studying and actually learning about energy issues. Can politicians do that, is it allowed? I mean, if you learn something new and adjust your views accordingly, doesn't that make you a "flip-flopper?" Surely we can't accept that! :p
It's possible that McCain may not have been strong on energy issues up to now. However, if we're going to solve our problems in this country, a lot of people who previously haven't paid attention to energy need to do their homework and get up to speed on this stuff. If McCain is doing that, I think that's excellent.
As for Pelosi. . . I cringe as I read her words. They are so trite and vague and weak that they could have been written about practically any subject that Republicans and Democrats disagree on. She's emitting political gas, along with a list of utterly worthless and trivial policy ideas.
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Serge 11:48AM (6/24/2008)
This energy policy debate is what we need! Both presidential candidates need to concretely formulate their positions, so an informed decision can be made on Election Day. Subsequently, a President's performance will be judged based on the campaign promises. This topic is too important to be decided by backroom dealings (a la Cheney's Energy Task Force).
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Mike Z 12:15PM (6/24/2008)
Wow, every idea that the person from the other party has is a bad one per Pelosi. Great way to talk about bringing people together.
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OhmExcited 12:16PM (6/24/2008)
Tony, McCain didn't have an epiphany. These ideas are coming from his newly recruited energy advisor, for CIA director James Woolsey, who has been thinking about Plugins for a long time (and was actually featured in Who Killed the Electric Car). See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spgoo1ScnO4&feature=related
http://setamericafree.org
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Pacman 12:45PM (6/24/2008)
I like this idea much better than only finding research on the "before" end. This way the money is used more efficantly and is only spent on results. $300m sounds like it should be enough to provide some insentive to companies to do the research. Maybe I am nieve but this seems like a good idea no matter who thought of it.
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Munson 12:48PM (6/24/2008)
I hope Obama adopts this idea as well.
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Stan Peterson 10:07PM (7/06/2008)
McCain has supported the Bush budgets including funding for the US ABC, which helped bring the Li-Ion battery to automotive applications.
McCain has voted for the Energy Bills of 2001 and 2005 that rationalized Nuclear Power licensing and plant construction. As a result Utilities have ordered 34 new Nuclear power plants in the last two years.
Where was Pelosi?
McCain voted for the enabling legislation and the supported the international negotiations to re-create ITER. Bush has worked to re-mobilize the international consortia to build and the fund the ITER Fusion Power experiment. Every large developed and developing country is aboard. The one that Mr. Clinton's own Democrats sabotaged for him in the 1990s, or it would be built andd functioing today. ITER is the LAST experiment before building clean, inexhaustible, non-polluting, no waste, Fusion power plants. Fusion Power solves the Energy problem; and probably AGW too. If such a thing really exists. Democrats speechify as if it did exist, to raise taxes; but don't vote to do anything about it when it interferes with their boodling.
Where was Pelosi ?
She led the opposition so as to preserve more fnding for "earmarks" in Democrats districts so they can reward politically connected friends.
Where was Pelosi's Democrats ?
She was politicing for the irrelevant Energy Act of 2007 that raised CAFE from an actual achieved 31 mpg, to 35 mpg, 15 years from now. BFD. CAFE achieved was 31 mpg,(2006) per the govenment's own EIA statistics before it passed, and with the decline, in 2008 of SUV sales, probably increases to 33-34 mpg, by itself, this automotive model year, as CAFE measures mileage.
Mandating a 1 mpg increase in mileage, in 15 years is the ultimate triumph of image over substance. Full of good political Sound and Fury signifying absolutely Nothing.
Meanwhile Obama is licking his lips at another tax to raise, and spend. Just imagine the opportunities for fresh graft and corruption that he learned so well in the Chicago machine, dispersing a fresh 1000 or 2000 billion dollars.
Obama never met a TAX that he voted against, and won't start now.
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Golden Boy 1:22PM (6/24/2008)
I'm voting for McCain, really against Obama, but I see this as McCain jumping on the bandwagon,purely political. We read about developments in battery technology every day here on this very blog, the $300 million isn't going to make the technology deployable any quicker.
On the other hand, when the day comes that EV's are being mass produced, I'd hate to see some Al Gore("invented the internet") type claim all the credit on behalf of bureaucratice intereference into the market because McCain threw a pittance into the pile.
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Dad 1:22PM (6/24/2008)
"but instead took aiim at McCain's previous lack of support for "more efficient cars, new energy technologies and green jobs""
Bill and Al failed for 8 years to increase CAFE. We have short memories. If Clinton and Gore had the "balls" to have done the right thing, we would not be in the mess we are now in. Where was Pelosi then? Where she is now, doing nothing of much importance.
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Chris M 2:52AM (7/07/2008)
"Bill and Al" couldn't raise CAFE with a Republican controlled congress blocking any such proposal. GW Bush didn't raise CAFE either, not until the Democrats seized control of Congress in 2006 and pushed through a CAFE increase that Bush didn't dare veto, not with soaring gas prices and record low approval ratings.
"Bill and Al" were able to get the "Partnership for Next Generation Vehicles" underway to develop high milage autos, a program GW Bush canceled in 2001, shortly after GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler showed their prototypes. While Detroit did nothing further with the PNGV concepts, ironically, it compelled Toyota and Honda to develop and market successful hybrids that now dominate the market.
The Bush administration also opposed the California ZEV mandate, applying political pressure and even joining a lawsuit against California, resulting in the cancellation of the program and the withdrawal of over a thousand EVs from the roads.
Had the Bush administration not cancelled the PNGV and opposed the Cal ZEV mandate, there would have been a lot more high milage hybrids and EVs on the road, and the price of oil wouldn't be quite as high. So, while "Bill and Al" weren't perfect, at least they tried to move forwards. GW Bush and the Republicans took several steps backwards.
pkuhl 1:51PM (6/24/2008)
"Bill and Al failed for 8 years to increase CAFE. We have short memories. If Clinton and Gore had the "balls" to have done the right thing, we would not be in the mess we are now in. Where was Pelosi then? Where she is now, doing nothing of much importance."
Republicans have had control of the White House alot more than Dems the last 30 years so, its on you. Reagan actually took down working solar panels off the White House. http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/newsreleases/2007/07-18.pdf
Carter was right, Reagan turned it around to F us all, and republicans are still denying climate change and giving subsidies to the most profitable companies in the world's history.
You lose. Find a leg to stand on.
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Tim 2:38PM (6/24/2008)
There is a report that EEStor is building their EESU production facility in Cedar Park, Texas; a full, state of the art production facility that is nearing completion.
http://www.naturalnews.com/023063.html
If this is for real, McCain can get his checkbook ready.
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terrence_bethea 2:50PM (6/24/2008)
Transformative Li ion (or other) battery technology would be worth at least $300m a year. If the company chose vertical integration and built all the batteries themselves, then it could potentially be worth tens of billions a year.
Seems like McCain is offering the equivalent of subsidies to oil companies.
Suffice it to say, if McCain had advocated aggressive 'investment' in energy/transportation R&D comparable to our 'investment' in Iraq . . . we would be a lot better off.
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MikeInNC 2:50PM (6/24/2008)
We can argue about what happened when "insert useless political blame here" but we've never had energy prices as high as we have now so what is being said TODAY and done TODAY has the utmost relevance. Fact is McCain is actually talking about moving the ball forward in substantive ways (not just saying - we should do more". We should give credit where it is due and the fact that Pelosi and co. promised that they could do something about high energy prices as part of their "elect us" campaign in '06 and is doing absolutely NOTHING leads me to think that maybe we have to turn to someone other than Congress to get a fire lit. Nay-saying never got us anywhere. Someone send Nancy a 'thanks for your concern but exactly what have you done for us for the last 18 months' letter please.
I also like the fact that Obama is at least addressing the issue but his idea of adding a windfall tax will do absolutely nothing to lower energy costs for consumers or increase supply and may indeed have the opposite effect. With 'change' like that, who needs enemies.
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Joseph 5:19PM (6/24/2008)
I don't see how some sort of race to build the next battery will help. Battery development has never improved by leaps and bounds. Instead, consistent improvements year after year have achieved results. There is big demand (electronics) for a "miracle battery" and if the entire electronics industry hasn't broguht it about, why would 300 million dollars?
I think it would be better to spend the money on tax subsidies for PHEVs and EVs.
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Joseph 5:20PM (6/24/2008)
I made a mistake. Mccain says he also supports tax credits along with the 300 million dollar thing.
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fnc 5:54PM (6/24/2008)
I like the way McCain is thinking, and I'm glad to see he has someone who says things I agree with as his energy adviser (energy dependence == security), but I don't think he's on the right track here. I'd prefer that he accelerate the market demand for these things by helping to offset the cost of existing batteries today (which already can make a perfectly viable commuter car), and let the prize of owning that market (which could pay off much more than 300M in the end) drive the research.
It's disturbing to me that his 'solution' of dangling a carrot for technology that doesn't exist is annoyingly close to the way the government dumps exorbitant sums into hydrogen research which is comfortably far enough away so as not to threaten the oil industry's current stranglehold on transportation. Some of that money going to H research could be used to speed up the adoption of electricity TODAY which would accelerate the development of that 'leapfrog' tech he wants to see. And just to whitewash it, electric cars aren't necessarily incompatible with hydrogen technology. They can have their cake and eat it too.
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Pablo 12:05PM (6/25/2008)
This is yet another "kick the can down the road" proposal.
Instead of putting 300 million dollars into actually getting cars on the road in the very near future, McCain is setting out a pot at the end of the rainbow, and then selling us on the rainbow.
This is just another way of putting off implementing changes until some point in the distant undefined future. All with the goal of allowing the oil companies to continue raking in profits for as long as possible. In this case, at least as long as it takes for some miracle battery of undefined properties to be invented long after the current oil crisis is no longer a central issue in politics.
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Dave 10:46PM (6/24/2008)
We'd do better to eliminate natural gas and coal fired power plants. And power our cars and heat our homes with natural gas. Give us nukes and renewables. Stop making cars the whipping boy.
http://race42008.com/2008/06/19/mccain-45-new-nuclear-reactors-in-america/
"McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating around the country produce about 20 percent of the nation’s annual electricity needs."
“'Every year, these reactors alone spare the atmosphere from the equivalent of nearly all auto emissions in America. Yet for all these benefits, we have not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over thirty years,” he said. “And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone.'”
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Paul 11:20PM (6/24/2008)
So, uh, ABG where's the "crazy" picture of Obama (every story about a Republican on this site is accompanied by the worst picture possible while every Democrat is pictured looking angelic) and the story about him slamming McCain's plans as "gimmicky"? Instead he wants to "force" automakers to make 50 MPG cars (fleet AVERAGE) by 2027. It is SO typical of the difference in philosophy between the parties. Democrats are all about sticks when it comes to its constituents and ironically about tasty (and so obviously ineffective) carrots when it comes to foreign policy. I don't even consider myself a Republican and certainly not a conservative, but the bias on this site is worse than NPR (or even Fox News on the opposite side), and it really sickens me. The Democrats may well win this election but it won't be for advocating good policy.
McCain's proposal isn't perfect. I don't much like the idea of giving a $300mil. prize without asking for the "opening" of the patent in exchange, however, it is FAR more likely to produce results than attempting (and probably failing) to push through essentially unrealistic CAFE regulations (at least unrealistic unless said battery tech is created, and cleaner, cheaper power is generated, and incentives are given to consumers to adopt more expensive, more efficient cars...hmm...sounds familiar).
Obama's an empty shell. I wanted badly to vote Democrat in this election (I'm ready for something different), but I've definitely changed my mind. I'm hoping that McCain really will be different because Obama is worthless.
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