Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Although energy policy and climate change were far from the focus of last night’s debate—Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber with whom Senator Obama spoke in Ohio got mentioned more frequently—there was some sparring over the issue.

With the exception of his answer to moderator Bob Schieffer’s question on how each candidate would reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil 45 minutes into the debate, Obama focused on tying alternative energy sources such issues as foreign policy and the economy. At one point, he linked the country’s dependence on foreign oil to China as well. Under an energy policy dedicated to alternative energy sources, he said, the country would reduce the amount of money “we borrow from China and send to Saudi Arabia.” As the New York Times points out in their interactive debate fact check feature, the whole reason the U.S. has relied on oil from overseas is that it was cheaper than anything else on the market. Today, oil is selling for $72.57 per barrel, which will be harder to undercut than it would have been earlier this year when oil was twice the price.

One of the most interesting environmental moments of the debate came when Obama was responding to criticism from Senator McCain, who claimed Obama rarely voted against his party. In his response, Obama stated that he had voted for clean coal technology. “I support clean coal technology,” he said. “Doesn’t make me popular with environmentalists.”

It was an interesting turn for Obama since clean coal technology has often been mistakenly portrayed as environmentally friendly (the government’s take on the issue vs. the environmentalist’s). Even so, The Washington Post revealed that while Obama originally supported subsidies for clean coal in Illinois, he’s since backed off this stance and instead is advocating for further research. 

In the rare moments when both candidates were pushed about their energy policies—an issue that has taken a far back seat to the economy in recent months –  Obama set his timeline for 10 years down the road. “I think that in 10 years, we can reduce our dependence so that we no longer have to import oil from the Middle East or Venezuela,” he said. “I think that’s about a realistic time frame.”

He added that he would put resources into energy such as solar, wind, biodiesel and geothermal, as well as building an American-made fuel efficient car. 

Photo courtesy of Llima Oroso/Creative Commons