McCain suggests $300 million reward......

[Strife]

PHOENIX, Arizona: John McCain hopes to solve America's energy crisis with cold hard cash.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is proposing a $300 million government prize to anyone who can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology.

The bounty would equal $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, \"a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,\" McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Monday at Fresno State University in California.

McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have \"the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.\"

The Arizona senator is also proposing stiffer fines for automakers who skirt existing fuel-efficiency standards, as well as incentives to increase use of domestic and foreign alcohol-based fuels such as ethanol.
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In addition, a so-called Clean Car Challenge would provide U.S. automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-carbon emissions car they develop and sell.

\"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure,\" said excerpts from McCain's prepared text.

\"From now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward the greatest success.\"

The proposal comes as the price of gasoline has reached record highs in the United States, over $4 a gallon, or more than $1 a liter. That has boosted the price of virtually all goods and services, sent commuters flocking to public transportation and increased tensions between the United States and its Middle Eastern oil suppliers.

Last week McCain suggested one way to ease supply concerns would be to lift a federal ban on offshore oil drilling, if individual states want to allow it.

His Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, opposes that idea, saying it would do nothing to address immediate price concerns.

On Sunday, Obama told a Washington audience he would strengthen government oversight of energy traders whose futures speculation he blames in large part for the skyrocketing price of oil.

In his latest speech, McCain expressed exasperation both with the federal government and the private sector.

He said rising costs during a time of stagnant wages evokes the 1970s era of \"stagflation.\"

Without blaming his fellow Republicans in the Bush administration directly, McCain said: \"It feels the same today, because the unwise policies of our government have left America's energy future in the control of others.\"

He also blasted \"a hodgepodge of incentives\" for the purchase of fuel-efficient cars.

\"Different hybrids and natural-gas cars carry different incentives, ranging from a few hundred dollars to four grand,\" McCain said. \"They're the handiwork of lobbyists, with all the inconsistency and irrationality that involves.\"

Training his sights on Detroit, the senator noted that Brazil went from about 5 percent to over 70 percent flex-fuel capability in its vehicles in just three years. At the same time, U.S. automakers - who helped with Brazil's shift - say it will take them longer just to reach a 50 percent goal.

\"Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress,\" McCain said in his remarks, \"we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil.\"

[TechPro]

There may be little that he can actually do about the immediate present (at least, not until after getting elected) ... and he doesn't have the technical expertise or option to do it himself ... so he's trying to provide a strong incentive for America to make something that will help the future ... which is what really matters in the long run.

Any thing else would be short term and nothing more ... which is all Obama is doing by opposing such efforts claiming it does nothing for the high prices right now. ... It does make it plain that Obama is not interested is doing anything long term for the benefit of the future ...

Just my POV.

[Cuda68]

There may be little that he can actually do about the immediate present (at least, not until after getting elected) ... and he doesn't have the technical expertise or option to do it himself ... so he's trying to provide a strong incentive for America to make something that will help the future ... which is what really matters in the long run.

Any thing else would be short term and nothing more ... which is all Obama is doing by opposing such efforts claiming it does nothing for the high prices right now. ... It does make it plain that Obama is not interested is doing anything long term for the benefit of the future ...

Just my POV.

I think your POV is accurate. I know there are a few company's who are aggressively seeking alternate fuel sources and trying to make the ones we have at the moment more efficient. I have applied for jobs with a couple in this area. This will take time since we as a nation have only just started to take this seriously. We will come up with something, we always do

[[]V[]essenjah]

I'm down for that. As long as he CAN GET the money to do this, which he should be able to do once he president. Any incentive is better than no incentive to make the world a better place. In turn, any effort is better than no effort.

If we don't do something about it.... our country is going to become very screwed up and soon.

[Floyd]

... sent commuters flocking to public transportation ...

what's wrong with that?

[Spidey]

I like the Idea, I also like the fact that he had an idea…

[Kyouryuu]

I think it's a good idea, if not overly simplistic.

Obama looks silly saying how it has \"no short term benefit.\" No kidding. But we have to consider long term benefits at some point. He is right on the energy traders, though. The same economists and hedge fund managers and \"geniuses\" behind Enron are behind the skyrocketing cost of oil.

[Kiran]

With more people voluntarily researching and experimenting for the long-term answer to the oil problem, there are bound to be discoveries that will find some answers to a few problems, if not related to oil.
It's a good opportunity to see what some people can offer.

[Deathwinger]

McCain please...if he wins, which is highly doubtful, all that alternative energy concepts are gonna get scrapped and its gonna be OIL in full force til the reserves run dry.

Gotta keep Haliburton happy yo!

[snoopy]

I like the idea, because it breaks the natural human tendency toward negative re-enforcement.

Obama wants to go after the bad guys. That's good, in a way, and makes people feel justified, but if a solution to our dependence on oil isn't found, it only prolongs the inevitable.

By offering a reward for success, you stop pandering to the public, and you start motivating people to actually find a long-term solution.

I'm still convinced that the future of energy in the world is either fusion or running out. They will find ways to harness organic power, but I don't think organic power can keep up with the energy demands of the human population. Eventually we'll run out of oil and fissionable material, and then we'll either voluntarily cut back on energy consumption, involuntarily cut back on energy consumption, or have fusion-based power up and running. I'm just not sure how long that will take... I don't think it will be in my lifetime.

[EDIT] We'll probably run out of places to safely dump our fission by-products long before we run out of fissionable material, now that I think of it.

[BUBBALOU]

If you hold the hand of the industry and coddle them then they will still suckle on the \"GASOLINE\" bottle - giving into their tantrums...... well - we are there right now!

Drastic measures with the auto industry should have been put in place in 1991 - when we entered \"The Kingdom\" - OPEC initially tested us when they over produced and had the price of gasoline down to .99 a gallon only about 5 years ago. Now they are reversing that funnle and reaping the profits

Exxon reports a 63 Billion dollar Net(not gross this is after ALL operational costs) Profit last year - that went in their pocket

Want Change - Set up new laws that require automakers to have non-petrol dependent vehicles as their major production lines by 2012 - otherwise they will be heavily fined - promote bonuses and government incentives for any auto maker that exceeds requirements prior to that deadline.
(they all have projects all ready to go they just do not want to retool unless they are forced by the industry)

Also levy fines against the fuel companies for discriminating by not providing more than one choice of fuel type at their filling stations - i think half of their reported gross will suffice

In the meantime - arrest all oil and private interest lobbyists and make them walk to work until this crisis is over!

[Tunnelcat]

The only way we're going to get any change out of the automakers is when car buyers start demanding alternative types of energy for powering their cars. And the only way that Americans are going to demand alternative energy cars is when the price of fuel gets high enough to cause pain in their pocketbooks. We are all creatures of habit and don't like change. However, I would definitely like to see a good electric car produced for driving around in the city.

The government must put a stop to all of this oil trading speculation that's driving up the price of oil as well. This is only hurting the little guy and making the undeserving wealthy traders wealthier. On the same tack, I keep thinking about the phone recording of those two Enron energy traders that was played on the news. Laughing and joking to each other about how clever they were in ripping off little old grandmas during the Enron caused electrical crisis a few years ago.

http://www.electricityforum.com/news/ju ... theft.html