Energy Obama Gas
A Message to the New President
American Government
Today there seems to be no escape from the rising energy costs in our country. With election time just being around the corner, the rising energy costs have become a major debate topic for the upcoming presidential election. I have been researching about Barack Obama and his point of view regarding the current energy crisis and his plans to fix the matter. According to Obama “We know that we can't sustain this kind of future.”(Halperin) In order to change this future around, Obama is willing to do almost anything such as provide relief to the rising gas prices, increase the production of more efficient cars, create more jobs, and create a more efficient renewable energy source.
Our dependency on foreign oil has greatly increased since the oil embargo of 1973. “Back then, we imported about a third of our oil. Now, we import more than half.”(Halperin) Along with the dependency of oil, the prices have also skyrocketed to over $140 a barrel. (Obama Announces) To offset these high fuel prices, Obama wants to enact a windfall profits tax. It would be a tax that is directed towards the wealthy oil companies. With this tax money the middle class families would receive $1,000 per married couple to help balance out the rising gas prices. By doing this, it will only provide temporary relief from the rising gas prices. A second way that Obama wants to overcome the rising gas prices is to stand by a motto “use it or lose it.” Throughout the world there are over 68 million acres of rich oil land that are being unused by the current oil company owners. To solve this problem, Obama wants to be sure that the oil companies are using the land for the correct purposes and not just letting it go to waste. Obama has been quoted saying, “use it or lose it”. This quote is directed at the oil companies to urge them to either drill on the land that they have access to or else sell it to a company that will take advantage of the resources that it posses. “With three percent of the world's oil reserves, the U.S cannot drill our way to energy security.”(Obama, Barack)
One way to cut back on oil consumption is to use less gas. This is exactly what Obama is getting at when he talks about producing more fuel-efficient cars. Obama is discouraged when he sees that most of the newer fuel-efficient cars are being produced in other countries. To cutback on this, Obama wants the United States to start making there own “plug in hybrid” cars that would be able to get up to 150 miles per gallon of gas. (Obama, Barack) By putting these cars on the road, it would benefit not only the owner but also the auto manufactures and the environment. In order to produce these hi-tech cars, the top line in equipment and technology is needed. Obama is willing to offer the manufacturers up to “four billion dollars in loans and tax credits.”(Halperin) By 2015 Obama wants to have one million plug in hybrid cars out on the road and running. (Obama Announces)
A benefit to all the new technology coming out is that it will create more job openings, thus expanding our economy. Obama has a dream to “Invest in Our Secure Energy Future and Create 5 Million New jobs.”(Obama, Barack) “Obama is planning on investing $150 billion over ten years to accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale renewable energy, and advance the next generation of bio-fuels and fuel infrastructure.”(Obama, Barack)
Obama directly states that he wants “10% of our energy to come from renewable sources by the end of his first term.” (Halperin) Renewable sources may include power from the wind, sun, geothermal energy, and nuclear energy. Obama thinks that windmills and solar panels would be two ways to collect some of the renewable sources. “Obama will instruct DOE to enter into public private partnerships to develop 5 “first-of-a-kind” commercial scale coal-fired plants with carbon capture and sequestration.” (Obama, Barack) This is part of his plan to collect geothermal energy as a renewable source of energy. “Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our non-carbon generated electricity.” (Obama, Barack) Obama wants to make sure that nuclear power is used in a safe and secure manner due to all the terrorist activities that have happened in the past few years. In order to make sure it is used safely and securely, “Obama introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to establish guidelines for tracking, controlling, and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear power plants.” (Obama, Barack)
In my opinion, I think Obama wants to take the right steps to help our country grow to be an independent and wealthy nation. If I had the power to make some changes, I think I would take most of the same steps that he is taking. I would invest money on producing a more efficient energy type. By doing this, it would cutback on our current demand for oil. Until I could get these programs started, I would start drilling in all of the United States oil reserves and try to keep the gas prices down and keep everything at a reasonable price. By doing this, I understand that it would only provide short time relief for our scientists to come up with a more efficient way to make things run. I don't necessarily believe that handing out money to families just to help pay for gas is right. I think the money would be put to better use if we would use it to lower the gas prices and invest in alternative fuels. One of the major energy resources that I think we should take advantage of is the wind power. There are many states that have excellent wind conditions that could play a key role in producing electricity. By using less coal in electricity plants, we could cutback on our pollution and help save the environment. While talking about electricity, I think we should also take more advantage of the newer electric cars that other countries have been producing along with the hybrid cars. By creating these cars, we would cutback on a lot of oil that we are using to produce gasoline. These are just a few suggestions that I have. I hope Obama will take them into consideration while he is running our country. I think his steps are in the right direction and I support his ideas. All this country really needs is a little shove in the right direction and I think things will all work out in the end if we try hard enough to accomplish our goals.
Work Cited
Halperin, Mark. "Prepared Remarks of Obama's Energy Speech." The Page. 2008.
18 Aug. 2008 <http://thepage.time.com/prepared-remarks-of-obamas-energy-speech/>.
Obama, Barack. "Barack Obama: New Energy For America." Obama'08. 2008. 18
Aug. 2008 <http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf>.
"Obama Announces Plan to Fully Close the Enron Loophole, Crack Down on Excessive Energy
Speculation." Obama News and Speeches. 22 June 2008. 18 Aug. 2008 <http://www.barackobama.com/2008/06/22/obama_announces_plan_to_fully.php>.
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