Category: Oil prices have entered a downward slide - for now. Would there be as much emphasis on energy right now if there wasn’t a Presidential election in progress? Yes? No? I guess if it is due to the election it can be regarded as a blessing to possibly jump-start the alternative energy movement a little faster.
A kick in the groin.
I for one am looking forward to the day when we have numerous choices for cooking, heating and electricity for our homes and businesses. Even vehicles.
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All this talk about energy is for election purposes, that’s what i think.
Choosing Obama as president will increase energy prices and put our nation in a serious security risk.
We can expect gas prices to climb again in an Obama presidency and Democrat-dominated Congress because the Obama/Dems opposed any increased drilling in the United States–offshore, in Alaska and in the Midwest oil sands. In a weak economy, higher energy prices would be just what we need for a full-blown depression.
The American economy has been beaten up by high energy prices. A variety of energy sources is needed as well as conservation, but more oil and gas drilling in America is necessary until alternative sources are commercially available and affordable.
Then I ran across this report on Obama’s interview that confirmed my concerns:
Obama: Spike energy costs to make people go ‘green’
2007 interview: Proposes government create ‘price signals’ to control behavior
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Posted: November 01, 2008
7:05 pm Eastern
By Drew Zahn
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
JOHNSTON, Iowa – In a recently publicized video from the Democratic primaries, Sen. Barack Obama said the government should drive energy bills up though “price signals” in order to force Americans into more environmentally friendly choices.
In the Nov. 9, 2007, interview on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” Obama said Americans like driving SUVs and leaving the lights on, but since “it is undisputable that the climate is getting warmer,” consumers would have to change their habits.
When asked what would make consumers change, Obama said government-created “price signals” would make people more mindful of energy costs and compel them to start changing light bulbs and turning off light switches.
Tired of all the heat but no light? Read, “Global Warming or Global Governance? What the media refuse to tell you about so-called climate change”
Associated Press reporter Mike Glover asked, “How do you convince people to change their lifestyle, to live differently?”
Obama’s answer, viewable in the video below, was, “I think it is important for us to send some price signals to change behavior. You know, if electricity goes up, people start becoming more mindful of their electricity bill.”
When Des Moines Register reporter David Yepsen asked Obama what part of his campaign Americans may not like to hear, the candidate returned to the theme of price signals.
“Number one, we’re going to have to start doing a better job of conserving on energy,” Obama said. “Americans like to drive their big SUVs. They like to leave all the lights on in their house. We’re going to have to change our habits.”
He then clarified how the government could implement the kind price signals that change consumer habits.
“We’re going to have to cap the emission of greenhouse gasses,” Obama said. “That means that power plants are going to have to adjust how they generate power. They will pass on those costs to consumers. … A lot of us who can afford it are going to have to pay more per unit of electricity, and that means we’re going to have to change our light bulbs, we’re going to have to shut the lights off in our houses.”
The full context of Obama’s comments about driving up electricity prices to bring about consumer change can be viewed in a second segment of the interview below:
Internet bloggers that began circulating the video earlier today also lent their opinion on Obama’s plan for consumer change.
“Is that the function of government — to fix prices as a punitive measure to change consumer behavior?” asked the Hot Air Blog. “It will be in an Obama administration. He and a few elites will decide which consumer behaviors are bad and penalize it with price signals.”
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, however, commented in a May editorial on the issue of government-created price signals, arguing that a federal gasoline tax would be just the kind of energy “price signal” that would finally persuade Americans to give up their SUVs.
“We need to make a structural shift in our energy economy,” Friedman wrote. “The only way to get from here to there is to start now with a price signal that will force the change.
“Barack Obama had the courage to tell voters that the McCain-Clinton summer gas-giveaway plan was a fraud. Wouldn’t it be amazing if he took the next step and put the right plan before the American people? Wouldn’t that just be amazing?” Friedman wrote.
Big oil generates a tremendous amount of money to the federal government. Their lies the problem The US government does not have any real incentive to get involved with renewable energies on a grand scale. We can push and push and hope that a politician with a strong moral compass will rise to the challenge. I won’t hold my breath but I still believe strongly in the American people.