Drill, Baby, Drill!

McCain’s energy plan has recently been a subject which can be summarized as “drill baby drill,” a slogan chanted in repetition at the Republican National Convention recently in reference to McCain’s commitment in exploring domestic oil reserves.

McCain’s energy policy is broken up into six sections. He plans on expanding domestic oil production and natural gas exploration and production. He wants to break our dependency on foreign oil by reforming our transportation sector while investing in clean, alternative sources of energy. He plans on protecting our environment and addressing climate change. According to his website, McCain believes, “A sound energy strategy must include a solid environmental foundation, in which energy efficiency is promoted.” He also wants to address the speculative pricing of oil.

McCain’s voting record on energy and other issues is addressed on www.votesmart.org.

Where domestic oil production and natural gas consumption is concerned, McCain would pursue drilling for oil in the outer continental shelf. This would be the ocean region of the west coast and the ocean region from the coasts of Texas all the way to the coast of Maine. Most of these regions are the size of an average American state when looking at the map provided on the website.

According to McCain’s website, “He will commit a $5,000 tax credit for each and every customer who buys a zero carbon emission car. ” The website also stated, “A $300 million prize should be awarded for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars .”

The rest of the website details each section of McCain’s energy plan. McCain is for the vast expansion of nuclear power in America, calling for “45 new nuclear plants by 2030 with the ultimate goal of eventually constructing 100 new plants.” McCain’s voting record generally is in alignment with what he lays out in his energy plan as listed on his website but there are some exceptions.

In 2002, McCain voted against a bill entitled the Securing American Future Energy (SAFE) Act of 2001. According to votesmart.org, the bill was designed “to enhance energy conservation, research and development and to provide for security and diversity in the energy supply for the American people, and for other purposes.” Highlights of the bill are “$15 billion for tax incentives for fuel production and conservation,” “Increased funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to $3.4 billion” and that it “Requires the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to issue annual fuel economy (CAFE) standards within 18 months of bill’s enactment that will lead to a light duty fleet average of 35 mpg.”

There is much more on the McCain’s website. He visits topics such as wind energy; solar energy; geothermal energy; green jobs; speculative oil pricing; tax credits for research and development; cap and trade system and energy efficiency, among others. Get on the web and get informed.