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Now we are not wanting to get in a political debate here... but part of the presidential campaign has dragged clean energy and hybrid technology into the mix, so we thought it appropriate to share a bit about each candidates' viewpoint.
The good news is that both presidential hopefuls appear to have some ideas for a greener planet. This is of course no surprise, as any other attitude would practically hand the presidency over to ?the other guy? on a gold and titanium platter.
Senator John McCain has proposed offering a $300 million taxpayer-funded cash prize to give incentive to researchers who can come up with the most advanced hybrid/battery technology. ?(This is) a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,'' said McCain, who has been criticized as not offering enough money, while others have criticized that an incentive shouldn't even be necessary.
McCain is also proposing to offer a $5,000 tax credit for zero-emission vehicles, which has also been criticized as giving money back to the wealthy who are the only ones who can afford these higher priced vehicles in the first place. In addition to the credit, McCain wants to enforce tougher fuel economy fines.
Senator Barack Obama came back at McCain's plan saying,
"When John F. Kennedy decided that we were going to put a man on the moon, he didn't put a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win?he put the full resources of the United States government behind the project and called on the ingenuity and innovation of the American people?I have a plan to raise the fuel standards in our cars and trucks with technology we have on the shelf." (Detroit News, Wednesday, June 25th 2008)
Obama was later criticized after this statement for not considering that fact that vehicle manufacturers are not exactly into the hybrid scene to save the planet as much as they are to make a buck... err, a few billion. Not that they don't care... but let's face it, their hearts have always been more in it for the money.
Obama is also proposing to double the fuel economy standards by 2027 to 50 mpg as part of his plan. He has also mentioned through his website that he intends on investing $150 billion over the course of 10 years to improve upon clean energy through improved technologies, such as cellulosic ethanol.
And the political battle rages on...
