Barack Obama spoke today, outlining his energy plan. He gave three main points, which are summarized in the video below.
WATCH:
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LOL with this plan. The US needs more nuclear power and hydro plants, not exotic ineffective windmills and solar panels that depend on weather. The batteries of present day plug-ins are an ecological disaster and we will have to wait for a better battery. BO is about as realistic as the loonies running Congress and will accomplish about as much if he comes to power.
Your right we should stay with oil because oil will never run out so why even try renewable energy.
Actually, Obama has said he supports increased nuclear technology, and nearly everyone supports hydroelectric power. Plug in hybrids are just a step in reducing consumption.
I live in California. We are big on renewables and conservation and use 40% less energy than the rest of the country. So what you're saying is California can do it but the rest of the country can't? Such lack of faith in the this country is really, really sad.
I live in California too -- and sometimes I think that myself. We can do it, and they can't. Why? Because there's a critical mass of people out here who care, and it's spilling over into the broader culture. There are over 90,000 homes in California with solar electric systems today, and many times that number have solar hot water. The Toyota Prius is the number one selling car in the San Francisco Bay Area. City living is becoming hip again here.
JKoos is totally off the mark with nuclear power. We don't need more "base load" power, we need "peak load" power. Nuclear and coal power plants are like aircraft carriers, they are slow to turn. If power demand falls by 50 percent -- as it does *every night* in most parts of the country, the nuclear power plant cannot drop its output by 50 percent to follow the demand. The result? Energy is getting wasted, thrown away as waste heat on the power grid.
You can build on-grid hydroelectric energy storage to solve the problem. California did exactly that when the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant was built. But hey, can't you store wind and solar energy the same way? If you solve the problem for one kind of power plant, you solve it for the other.
Funny that you should talk about batteries. MIT just released info on the discovery of a method to make and use hydrogen fuel cells that are simple and inexpensive. It is the Holy Grail of Alt Energy.
Thanks for that info. Do you have a link to this?
"Batteries of present day plug-ins are an ecological disaster"
And yet somehow dams, oil, and (especially) nuclear waste are good for the environment?
This was a really poorly edited video. It looks like they took out everything but the 3 main points.
Obama is one smart & skilled politician I've seen in my lifetime ... although it's a short lifetime . . LOL
Mc Cain is gonna squirm his ass off ..........
Obama needs to stay on the Offensive ..........
Gas will be $3 at the pump by the time the G O P CONvention rolls around.
I think so, funny how that happens isn't it? 2 weeks ago W eliminates the off shore drilling band, knowing full well the Congress would need time to debate the issue, also knowing full well that the 5 week recess was only 2 weeks away. Now their are a hundred Republican Congressman holding there collective breath and stomping their feet and challegening the Congress run back to Washington, once again knowing full well that more drilling will not solve anything in the short term, yet they blocked Democratic legislation like releasing light sweet crude from the Oil Reserve and passing anti speculation regulation that can lower the barrel cost by 30% within weeks. The question I have why didn’t Republicans display this same urgency when they were in charge or even debating this issue for the last 4 months? As usual they are blowing smoke, if we can set up a wind turbine in the halls of congress all our problems would be solved. The Bush Administration creates these last minute emergencies again and again and again, no tin foil hat conspiracy here, just the same old, same oil.
Well.
It's definite now.
That grinning empty suit propped up in front of those teleprompters was not empty after all ... it was FOS.
That's a terrible thing to say about Mc C ain!
Is he a doddering old fool or is it just me?
LOL
Yes, wearing depends, with his nursemaids ever whispering in his ear.
What are you talking about?
Stated like a true profiteer!
I live in Michigan, I watched Senator Obama give his speech regarding his Energy plan and thought he made some very valid points. We cannot drill our way out of current high gas prices, it's a ruse that the GOP is using and acting as if this will cause immediate relief for Americans at the gas pump, when in fact it will not. There are 64 million acres that have been approved for drilling that has currently gone untouched. Ask yourself, who stands to gain the most from drilling? it sure wouldn't be those that push for alternative fuel sources, it's the oil companies and all those that back them.
Michigan has lost so many jobs, seen factories close their doors, now McCain, tell me, just how do you propose that you will re-open these factories when all you keep bellowing is DRILL?
No Federal Government ban on charging $.25 for a few minutes of air at gas stations?
You call that a comprehensive energy plan?
I knew McNovacain had Ob_ama outflanked on something. He's got the gas station air vote locked up.
It's funny, I heard Bill O'reilly Rush Limpbaugh and Sean Hannity say the same thing.
Sorry, clear & factual words got in your way again!! Spell comprehensive backwards and not choke!!
Obama said ... he was not interested in "making the 'perfect' the enemy of the good" ... meaning all that is included in that bi-partisan limited drilling bill may not be of his liking, however, the bill does include large allocations for alternative energy measures that he has continually supported!!
You wouldn't know compromise or comprehensive from nasty sounds coming from Mc's rear!!
You should tell the Mc Cane to propose that!
Obama's Plan is a triple play. It will drop prices of gasoline diesel and heating oil within two weeks.
It will act as a real economic stimulus package by allowing Americans to hold on to more of their own $$$$ and reduce the weekly contribution they currently make to BIG OILS insatiable appetite!
and reduce the spiraling inflation in every product energy effects!
It will create jobs in the desperate work force!
It will begin the process of turning us away from the carbon based energy age and save our species from extinction!
A well thought out plan, while McCain has gimmicks like 'no gas tax', and offshore drilling as his energy plan. And the MSM will continue to fan the charge that all Obama has are 'words' and no policy. This is quite frustrating!
When is the nation as a whole going to admit that
The big auto corporations have totally failed us and have polluted the air, wasted our resources and inevitably mad the the oil producing nations and a handful of executives incredibly rich, while laying off their workers and obstructing higher fuel standards and the development of sensible solutions like mass transit and hybrid and electric vehicle technology.
It's so screamingly obvious that the absence of leadership, good sense, and government guidance and regulation and the Republicans have brought about this situation, which, like the invasion and occupation of Iraq, has hobbled us as a nation.
These two cancers - military profiteering and imperialism and addiction to oil - need to be excised from the body politic once and for all.
Too late. They purchased the msm, and are launchinga fullfledge
Bingo, and with all haste!
MC CAIN CANT WIN ON THE ISSUES SO NOW THEY HAVE TO DESTROY BARACKS CHARACTER.
You are exactly right. Sad thing is, there is so much that McCain lacks in character and it's all just a Google and Youtube away.
you mean re-destroy? or how can you destry something that has been destroyed for so long? character? what character?
"The Paris Hilton Tax Break"
If it's so awful to pull Paris Hilton into politics, as John McCain recently did in a commercial, then Barack Obama shouldn't have dragged her into a Senate debate two years ago, when he attacked the repeal of the death tax:
Mr. OBAMA: Madam President, I rise to speak in opposition to the complete repeal of the estate tax.
First of all, [let's] call this trillion-dollar giveaway what it is—the Paris Hilton tax break.
In these remarks, Obama mentions "the Paris Hilton tax break" four times — check out the Congressional Record, June 8, 2006 (pages S5616 and S5617).
More Obama, from the same speech:
So if the Republicans want to bring up their Paris Hilton tax break to use it as an election issue later, I say go for it. Because I can think of no better statement about where and how we differ in priorities than that.
We will now wait for liberals to explain the political etiquette of Paris Hilton references: Okay when Obama uses them to condemn tax cuts, but not okay when anybody else uses them to criticize Obama.
So Obama will make Michigan produce hybrid cars, and tell everyone to reduce use of electicity by 15%.
What does that do now to reduce the price of oil now?? We will need oil for many years to come, no matter how hard we work to develop alternative sources of energy. This is the reality.
Drilling in the US is the obvious solution to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. On yeah, and properly inflating our tires.
This is what is wrong, not many people are willing to sacrifice, you want instant results. More drilling will not drop oil prices right this minute, nor does it reduce our dependence on foreign oil, what will reduce our dependence will be alternative renewable energy sources, and that will also put a lot of people to work, give up a few things and help to bring this plan forward.
HuffPost's Pick
I happened to watch this speech almost in its entirety, and it was masterful. It was very specific, it was very comprehensive and it was very inspiring--in the sense that afterward, I thought America could actually be and do what Obama was talking about.
In the last decade (or two or even three), we've lost the sense that America can do anything, if it really tries. Obama revived that feeling, and its reappearance came as something of a shock--I hadn't really realized how long it had been missing.
Obama unveiled a plan, that if we have the will and courage to follow it, can not only give us energy independence, and unshackle our foreign policy from events in the Middle East, but also create many millions of jobs--jobs that can't be shipped overseas, that can restore prosperity to the rust belt, and that can significantly slow the on-rush of global warming.
Yes, it is an ambitious plan, as Obama admitted again and again. But is possible. We've accomplished even greater things in the past, peace and in war. If we can act as one people, and if we are all willing to participate, we can do this. We can do this if we act as one people.
I've seen Obama speak many times and I've been mightily impressed, but this speech was on a very different plane than most of the others. It was not just inspiring, it was genuinely concrete. Watch it if you can.
Was he on a teleprompter????
Wasn't his words if he was.
I live in the state of Vermont where we have a nuclear power plant, called Vermont Yankee. I probably live about 50 miles away from it. It is old, needs to be rebuilt. Where do they put the waste? Never heard where it went. Kinda crazy, isn't it? They are, the State, VY, politicians, are always fighting over this plant. One time it is safe, the next it is not. So for you who think nuclear power is a simple fix, do some checking. I am not for or against but it seems to me with all this fighting, something isn't right.
The reason nuke plants aren't being replaced or new ones built is because of enviromental groups blocking them in court. Just like refineries, coal plants, or even hydro-electric plants.
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First Posted: 08- 4-08 12:46 PM | Updated: 08-12-08 05:12 AM