Presidential Candidates Call for More Hybrids

April 11, 2008

Clinton

Hillary Clinton favors an almost identical increase in fuel efficiency standards, but her plan offers an array of incentives for hybrid buyers and manufacturers. One such proposal would give a tax credit of up to $10,000 toward the purchase of a plug-in hybrid or the retrofitting of an existing hybrid to incorporate plug-in technology. Clinton also wants to add 100,000 plug-ins to the federal fleet and help cities and states pay to do the same.

McCain

John McCain favors establishing “a national challenge to improve the cost, range, size, and weight of electric batteries for automobiles,” and flexible fuel technologies, but he has yet to unveil a detailed energy plan. It is worth noting that McCain was the only major Republican candidate to discuss climate change with any urgency during the primaries, and that he has consistently called for a decreased dependence on foreign oil while opposing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Many of these proposals would have us hitting around 55 MPG by 2030. But like with much of what the candidates offer, you have to close your eyes and click your heels three times and just hope that when the details are filled in later, it’ll be as good as it sounds.

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Posted in Environment, Incentives and Laws, News
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  • Boom Boom

    I’ll never vote for McCain, but any of them will be better than Bush. Hopefully out next president will be willing to take a more active role in encouraging hybrids and more efficient cars from our domestic automakers. A carrot of subsidies for development with a stick of fines for not meeting goals or raising average fuel economy.

  • David

    Funny how they show McCain for this article…

    …When Obama is the most concerned candidate about the environment.

  • Joey

    I too would never vote for McCain. Look at how much the current republican president kept his word of getting us off oil. Every single state of the union speech he said he would do this and that but has done nothing to date…

  • ZM

    McCain’s talk on global warming and getting off oil are not significant because people who care about these issues are likely vote for him. What it reflects is that the mainstream of the Republican party (and the country in general of course,) are beginning to take this seriously. Bush is an oil man from a long line of oil men who probably only talks to a handful on of people who aren’t oil men (or women.) But the GOP (and the Dems for that matter,) represent a diverse array of corporate interests, and in most industries, cutting down on carbon emissions and energy expenditures is a top priority right now.

  • VaPrius

    I would never vote for McCain. Look at how he can’t bend. The President needs to ability to bend!

    Now that my joke is out of the way: I too do not see McCain as someone concerned about the environment or our future.

  • Hal Howell

    Unfortunately they have all bought into the Global Warming Hoax perpetrated by Algore the Profit! Too bad, because what we need on top of all the rest of the bad financial news is another stupid tax increase so the government can waste our money!!! All Gore has done is raised the specter of a doomsday that isn’t coming to inflate his lackluster life and overinflated ego!

  • VaPrius

    Your right Hal, we have inadvertently discovered a natural system whose chemical makeup can be drastically altered with no ill effects! Yea for us! Magic is real! We get to keep our SUVs! Mean ol’ Al trying to take our big honkin’ trucks!! I have to go now and watch the pigs fly.

  • steved28

    Hal,

    I get taxed on my income, on my purchases, on my vehicles, on my property, on my trash, water, schools. I agree there are too many taxes, but where is this GW tax you keep referring to? If you are going to rant, at least cite what it is you are talking about.

    And for once, just take the whole GW issue off the table and look at this issue as if it does not exist. It would not make a difference to me, we need to lesson our dependencies on oil and forge ahead with new technologies for a multitude of other reasons. Caring about the environment does not just mean GW.

  • Anonymous

    OBAMA ALREADY OWNS AND DRIVES A HYBRID!!

    A FORD ESCAPE!!

  • Need2Change

    I don’t trust any politician. What did Clinton/Gore do when they were in power to lessen foreign oil use? Next to nothing.

    And Hillary going to spend $100 billion here, and $100 billion there, and several $100′s of billions on health care. And she’s going to buy 100,000 hybrids for the US government.

    I’m retired from the US. Forest Service which has over 40,000 employees at over 800 work locations. The annual FS Budget was a little about $3.5 billion and half of that was dedicated to fighting forest fires. Other than military spending, can’t see where the money’s coming from.

  • Dave K.

    The reason there are ANY production hybrids is Clinton/Gore’s PNGV program from the 90s, it scared Toyota and Honda into developing their own hybrid technology. Unfortunantly as soon as the PNGV money stopped GM and Chrysler dumped their programs and now are 5-10 years behind.
    The Dems could run a monkey and I’ld vote for him, that said I wish we had more real choices.

  • moishe k

    Dave K. says:

    The Dems could run a monkey and I’ld vote for him,

    how about a donkey

  • uktiger

    Funny how republicans always cry and whine when we want to spend something on our citizens or when we want to advance science.

    When money is needed to kill brown people though… bring it on.

    Hopefully republicanism will meet the same fate as communism as a failed autocratic economic policy.

    Hey Hal, Iraq pre-US invasion had zero personal or corporate income tax. They also had no gun control laws. Republican heaven.

  • Fox7777

    Please read Apollo’s Fire by Jay Inslee. We need a go-to-the-moon project to become energy independent and quickly stop burning fossil fuels. Barack Obama is our only serious hope for doing this. A third Bush regime under McCain would be disastrous.

  • MountainMike

    Everybody is quick to bash Bush. I am a Democrat, and don’t care for the man, but we can’t keep blaming him for everything. Let’s all look at ourselves first. How many of you guys own a Hybrid or alternative fuel car? How many of you own an SUV or guzzling sports car? Yes, I am as much to blame as you, partially.

    I own a Chrysler Town & Country minivan. I get about 26 Hwy/17 City MPG. Here’s why I say “partially”; I purchased it because I have 4 children, so size was an issue, but I made my choice because it is a flex-fuel vehicle. Unfortunately, the closest station to get E-85 for me is over 150 miles from home. So needless to say, my T&C has not tasted the sweet flavor of an alternative fuel yet. I would have purchased a Hybrid minivan, but I’m still waiting for Toyota to import theirs, or for another noble company to get one on the road. so, I would if I could, but I can’t so I didn’t.

    Now for the Bush thing, let’s not forget that we had Clinton for 8 years before Bush. He did nothing either. Actually, I don’t remember anybody making any notable effort in this issue since Carter, after the Oil Embargo. Remember where the first CAFE law came from?

    I must agree with the comment from Fox777 that we need a “go-to-the-moon” project to get this done. We need a huge government push, or a friendly competition with a rival. But remember, it is up to me and you to do the right thing and take the issue into our own hands by voting, purchasing and conserving so that we all make a difference. Remember, talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words.

    P.S. As a foot note about me, I am currently working the financing to have photovoltaics installed in my home.

  • Diggity

    I too could never vote for McCain – it’s hard to believe any Republican is genuinely concerned about the environment (or, for that matter the contents of the average middle-class American’s wallet), after such a long history of not giving a darn.

    Hillary supports the gas tax holiday – C’mon Hil… I expected more from you! What a dumb idea.

    Remember the old slogan “a chicken in every pot?” How about a new slogan for our next President – “A photovoltaic panel on every roof!” Think about it – every house and business in the country running solar, all grid connected, and everyone drives a plug-in. Yeah, I know… it will never happen. It’s a shame, because it’s about the only way I can think of that we can make enough of a difference to really put the skids on global warming. All I know is, the hundreds of Billions we’ve squandered in Iraq would buy an awful lot of solar panels…..

  • MountainMike

    I’ll vote for you Diggity.

    Gov. Schwartenegger (pardon the spelling) and Senator Kevin Murray have a program in California to have a million solar roofs by 2018. Now if every state did that, with the help of the Fed, we can make a big dent in the problem.

    Look at this:
    http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/3588/

  • Andy Andersson

    We should not dictate technological solutions but answer the question: Why decrease carbon emissions? Quantitatively! How much damage does our emissions do? This is how much we should pay for them. To whom? To the people we hurt, and that is everybody, equally! To make it managable, stick to the US for now. People would now afford to buy their energy with this money that would come from carbon-emission permits. And they would buy the cheapest kind, and that would not be carbon based as more and more alternative energy would become available as it would now be highly competitive. Solar, nuclear, biomass, wind, wave, geothermal, you-name-it would all be developed in the economially proper proportions with the enormous incentives created by the carbon-credit purchases. What is needed is for the politicians to answer the carbon-emission damage question honestly and act accordingly.

  • Darrell D Lambson

    I never knew..Hillary has the only RIGHT view; it has to be Electric/flex fuel (generator for extended range) for everyday use which would cut 80% of our dependence on foreign oil and we must save Anwar oil for
    planes, trains, heavy trucks (semi’s), pickups when needed and small engines. Then we can put those CREEPS back to herding GOATS and CAMELS where they belong!
    If Bush would of INVADED ENERGY INDEPENDENCE instead of Iraq;
    and put the $5Trillion He added to our National Debt….. That Stupid A$$hole would of had a REAL LEGACY and I hate to say…might of been the best President in our Nations History!!!
    Take A Look At What We Could be Driving…..
    Jay Leno was a total skeptic of electric cars until he got hold of a Tesla; because he only related to His 1909 Electric Car..check it out!
    http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=229378

  • ekertz

    No one who has bashed Hal for his statement about the global warming hoax has addressed what he said! They have gone to another subject and accused him of all kinds of things. Would someone please explain to me how the temperature increase can be caused by CO2 which increases approximately 800 years AFTER the temperature? Would some one please explain to me how man is supposed to have such a great effect when volcanos, animals, etc. emit FAR MORE CO2 than man? If some one can SCIENTIFICALLY explain these things, I might consider the man made global warming hypothesis! I am a scientist! Check out these items and explain man made global warming to me:

    19,000+ scientists have signed a statement disagreeing with the man made global warming hypothesis. To see this list, go to:

    http://www.oism.org/pproject/
    or
    http://www.sitewave.net/pproject/listbystate.htm

    Here are some videos with information about the false global warming hypothesis:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMDi_u0dcig&feature=related (short ~ 2.5 min.)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKAC4kfHruQ&feature=related (short ~ 3 min. Polar Bears)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io-Tb7vTamY&NR=1 ( ~ 9 min.)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTGBcVi7n
    0o ( ~ 31 min.)

    Or you can view this video which is meant for a more scientific audience rather than the
    general public as the previous videos were:
    http://www.discovery.org/v/30 ( ~ 19 min.)

    You can also read the books:
    “Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years” by S. Fred Singer and Dennis Avery
    And
    The Politically Incorrect Guide To Global Warming And Environmentalism by Christopher C. Horner

    Also, here is a multi-part video:

    Global Warming – Doomsday Called Off (1/5)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr5O1HsTVgA

    Global Warming – Doomsday Called Off (2/5)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD6VBLlWmCI

    Global Warming – Doomsday Called Off (3/5)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZS2eIRkcR0

    Global Warming – Doomsday Called Off (4/5)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIbTJ6mhCqk

    Global Warming – Doomsday Called Off (5/5)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2XALmrq3ro

    Interesting article about Polar Bears and sea ice:
    http://tinyurl.com/3d3erv

    I hope you find these items interesting and useful!

    I’m waiting for the expected attacks but no SCIENTIFIC facts and no reference to the facts that I have offered! This is the standard response by those who espouse the man made global warming religion! By the way, the temperatures have gone DOWN in the last 10 years! Oh no! GLOBAL COOLING! just like in the 1970′s!

  • Priusmaniac

    If you don’t want to be an apprentice sorcer, don’t play. If you don’t know the effect of a double carbon dioxide level, a good precaution is to avoid doubling it. Nobody want to walk in the dark without knowing what is in front of him. Beside, carbon dioxide is also causing the acidification of the ocean and posing a treat to shale forming species at the base of the food chain. An increase in carbon dioxide can also trigger the release of methane hydrates trapped in solid form on the ocean floors and cause a Venus style runaway global warming effect which would not only increase temperatures but bring the ocean water to boil before the planet set to a new 150°C global equilibrium point between incoming sun radiance and earth emission. Hell on earth literally. If you want to test with Venus or Mars, fine, but don’t try it on the sole planet we are on. The world is not ours to gamble with.

  • tjones

    I think Hybrid cars are a great stepping stone for the country. We need to find ways to increase gas mileage and keep the environment cleaner.

    Hopefully the new president will continue to purse new vehicle technology.

  • Jane

    Well this is really good news for us. The call of hybrid cars by our leaders is one step of saving our surroundings and having an improved nation in terms of clean and green environment. The Automotive Portal also supports this action.

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