The Candidates on Oil

Since oil & gas prices are still at ridiculously high levels (and note how oilman Bush has done nothing about it; see article at )), let's see where Obama & McCain stand on the issue.

McCain
As of this writing, McCain supports opening up off-shore (coastal) sites to oil drilling (see .) He opposes drilling in ANWR (Artic National Wildlife Reserve). That could change, though, because he frequently flip-flops on issues (go to ). From his own website () you can see a list of items (click on Issues, then on American Energy) that he supports. He calls it the Lexington Project & #1 is more offshore drilling. He also includes a "clean car challenge" for automakers, a $300 million prize for a "battery challenge", & supports Flex-Fuel autos, cellulosic alcohol, & eliminating US tariffs & subsidies on ethanol. He supports "clean-coal" initiatives and building 45-100 new nuclear power plants. The very last item on his list is to encourage renewable energy (no dollars or numbers mentioned,just some sort of tax credit). In the meantime, check out his campaign aides & lobby money (go to and to for a video on the topic. And, from my read on his site, none of these would address the immediate issue.

Obama
From his website ()
He supports raising the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy), has sponsored or authorized legislation on the use of renewable fuels, a "healthcare for hybrids" act, a low carbon fuel standard act and he introduced the Oil Sense Act to eliminate oil tax breaks. He helped introduce the American Fuels Act to increase production, distribution & end uses of biofuels. So, his website supports that he has actively been trying to do something about the energy crisis. However, like McCain, many of his responses are also long term.

What both seem to be missing is the role of the futures market, speculation, and the Enron-loophole that allows speculation at ridiculously low initial investment. Americans, math anxiety in full mode, start to glaze over when you talk about this. So, here's the quick & dirty. When Bush Jr came into office, one of the first things he did was ease market restrictions (anyone know about the S&L Crisis of the '80's & how the Bush Family was involved?). Ergo Enron & all that entailed. These restrictions have never been rescinded. If we reduce the ability to speculate worldwide, I believe we'd see an immediate drop in prices.

We went into Iraq for oil, right? What if we took all those 150,000 US troops, offered oil jobs to Iraqis, & trained 'em to a) guard the pipeline from terrorists b) learn a new job skill in whatever area of oil production seems best c)provide housing & infrastructure on location and d) work with the Iraqi govt to ensure safety off all concerned. If oil starts pumping out of Iraq, supply will be up & prices will drop.

The reason there's so much uncertainty in oil is because data is so scarce. Go to . So, we're relying on incomplete data or possibilities to begin with--at least in terms of what oil exists and how much remains. This data is necessary, so perhaps we need to put a few more dollars into it for an earlier release.