New energy for America

Our nation is in crisis and our planet is in peril. We need a president who will make energy independence a reality, not just an election-year slogan. Sen. Barack Obama will end our addiction to foreign oil, greatly expand our alternative energy sector and finally show the world that the United States is ready to solve the climate change crisis.

Obama's detailed energy plan, "New Energy for America," would increase fuel efficiency standards and put 1 million American-made plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015. This alone would save the United States more oil over the next 10 years than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela. Sen. Obama will also encourage more domestic oil production by requiring companies to develop the leases they already have-68 million acres are currently unused-which would double our domestic oil production and increase our natural gas production by 75 percent.

As president, Obama will signal to the world that the United States is ready to address climate change by implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. Obama's plan will invest $150 billion over the next 10 years in clean energy alternatives-creating 5 million green-collar jobs in the process. By the end of his first term, 10 percent of American electricity will come from renewable sources and 25 percent by 2025.

Obama understands that times are tough for many in the Bush-McCain economy. Through an emergency energy rebate of $1,000 per family or $500 per individual paid for by a windfall profits tax on oil companies, Obama will provide immediate relief for soaring gas and fuel prices. Instead of promising real relief, Sen. John McCain trumpets his gas tax holiday gimmick-a plan that will save consumers, at best, a half tank of gas.

Don't be fooled by McCain's rhetoric. In his 26 years in Washington, McCain has voted five times against raising fuel efficiency standards, four times against renewable energy mandates and 11 times against tax incentives for renewable or alternative energy. He currently opposes a bipartisan compromise to expand domestic oil production. Why? Because it would fund energy conservation by ending tax breaks for oil companies. McCain has raised more than $2.1 million from the oil and gas industry and proposes nearly $4 billion in tax cuts for the oil companies. That's not the change we need, that's more of the same.

Benjamin Bergmann is a Trinity sophomore. He is the president of the Duke Democrats.