It seems that our class is at the forefront of what is going on in politics. Of course we knew this when we had Robin introduce us to the class, but after seeing both the VP debate a few weeks ago and the second Presidential Debate today on Youtube, for the first time in my life I feel that a class I am taking has relevance in my life. I am not saying I will not use my trusty math or science skills, but after researching for the energy policy debate I feel like I know things that are going on now, and how these plans will affect the future.
One interesting note I want to make is that while watching the second Presidential debate, I noticed that Presidential candidates were actually serious about energy (as opposed to the Bush administration that did practically nothing for the environment - thanks old pal). When asked on how we could help solve the financial crisis (which is for a whole other blog) Obama stated one of his first solutions will be to stop spending so much money on oil and giving it to countries while we can use it here. He constantly stressed renewable energy and even mentioned spending and investing money on energy (which could of been risky since this might be interpreted as deficit spending). McCain did mention renewable energy, but like Stephen and Jacky told the class, he was very vocal in his pro-drilling approach. I felt while the candidates were talking about their policy that they were both clear and very similar to what we talked about in class. Everyone in class did awesome researching!
On another note, sorry to rant, I have to mention Sara Palin. Thank you Mary for trying to answer questions about energy that Palin herself was not able to answer. In the VP debate she did claim to be the expert on energy, but all she really had to offer, like Mary and the reporters pointed out, was drilling. What do you think her motive for destroying wildlife in her own state to get oil that could be only of a fraction of what Americans consume? I would guess that her motive is money and all the jobs it would create in her hometown of Alaska… It seems that Obama and Badin have a more focused energy plan on getting renewable energy out there, while McCain just wants to harvest our resources.
I feel that energy will be a very important part of the election, and I was glad I could actually follow along with these debates after doing my research.
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I tuned into Tuesday’s debate overly excited to hear some interesting energy plans debated by these candidates, but as with most expectations, I was pretty disappointed. For the first half, energy was solely mentioned in fragments as the candidates answered questions centered around issues with the economy. It surfaced as a topic well into the debate only to be addressed with some general standpoints and a few contentions over past legislation. Had it not been for the research presented during the press conference in class, I would have remained far less informed after listening to them. However, two issues seemed to stand out as particularly interesting for a McKinney supporter, drilling and nuclear power, which after some accusations both candidates supported in varying degrees.
Thanks to the research in class, This is where my candidate was kind of unique. What set McKinney out particularly from other Green Party candidates, was her desire to take both drilling and nuclear off the table. Drilling was an absolute no, whether off-shore or in ANWR. Secondly, she believed nuclear energy to be an unclean, unsustainable, expensive, and carbon intensive method of producing energy, that should not be considered.
Nonetheless, I really think it comes down to one point Obama made during the debate, who can the people trust when the campaign is finally over? I highly doubt as Obama said, it will be the Senator who has admitted for 26 years that something has to be done to improve our energy efficiency and conservation, yet has voted against alternative fuels 23 times.