What Should Obama’s Energy Policy Include/Exclude?

November 5, 2008 · Filed Under Congress, Energy Independence, Fuels, Industry, News & Reports, Tax Credits

Senator Obama ran a brilliant campaignÂ and yesterday a majority of Americans voted him in to the Office of the President of the United States. While there is certainly reason to celebrate today, in a few short months he will inherit a failed energy policy, one in desperate need of change â€“ but exactly what kind of change?

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

+ Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump
+ Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
+ Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
+ Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
+ Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
+ Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

In the past Obama has been a friend of the ethanol industry, supporting the subsidies that enabled the young industry to flourish in his home state (and surrounding states) early by encouraging private investment and innovation. He recently said corn ethanol is not â€œoptimalâ€ when compared with sugar cane ethanol, a comparison that is not entirely fair, since corn ethanol production produces feed for livestock as a byproduct.

Will he continue to support the ethanol subsidies, and work to raise the “blend wall” on E10Â from 10% to a higher figure? (Ethanol production is about to “cap” out due to the lack of market for it’s excess product.) There is no mention of the Flex-Fuel Vehicle in the bullet pointsÂ above, although it would be the cheapest fastest method forÂ reducingÂ (in a meaningful way) America’s transportation reliance onÂ oil. Â

So, besides encouraging fuel conservation and mandating FFV’s w/ the Open Fuels Standard Act,Â what else should President Obama’s energy policy include and exclude?

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