What are 2008 Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s Solutions for High Gas Prices?
We are only a few months away from perhaps the most historical Presidential Election in our nation’s history. Quite a few Americans are making their own efforts to save on gas by using gas reward cards, using alternative forms of transportation, and more. Unfortunately, despite our attempts to increase our gas savings, and even though gas prices are on a downward trend, many are still hurting when forking out over $3.50 per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. This continues to make the cost of gas a hot button issue and Americans would like to know, “What are the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ solutions for high fuel costs?”
Today we’ll look at some of Barack Obama’s “Real Solutions for High Gas Prices”:
We need proactive solutions that are designed to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and bring down prices for good – Barack Obama, Thursday, May 11, 2006
That was in 2006, what has Senator and Presidential Hopeful Obama done since then to help the US and its citizens save on gas? Well, he has introduced legislation along with other members of congress but most have not passed. Here are just a few of them:
- The American Fuel Act – Aimed at increasing domestic production, distribution, and end the use of biofuels. (Library of Congress: American Fuels Act of 2007)
- Biofuels Security Act – Calls for sixty-billion gallons of renewable biofuels to take place by 2030. (Library of Congress: Biofuels Security Act of 2007, 110th Congress, 1st Session)
- Oil Sense Act – Introduced as a way to rid “royalty relief and repeal some of the Energy Policy Act of 2005”…ending unnecessary tax breaks for big oil companies. (Library of Congress: Oil SENSE Act, 110th Congress, 1st Session, January 4, 2007)
- E85 Tax Credit – Finally, one introduction that passed is a tax credit for installing E-85 (85% Ethanol/15% Gasoline) ethanol refueling at the gas stations around the country.
If you’re still on the fence when it comes to who you’ll be voting for in November, I encourage you to get to know the candidates. Polling data for the General Election of McCain versus Obama, as of August 18, 2008, shows an extremely tight race. The LA Times/Bloomberg, Gallup, Rasmussen, Quinnipiac, IBD/TIPP, and Pew Research polls all display Barak Obama as having a slight edge. The Real Clear Politics (RCP) average has Obama at 45% and John McCain at 42.5%.
You can view more of Senator Barack Obama’s recommendations, proposals, and ideas from his main website. Tomorrow we’ll present some of Senator John McCain’s solutions for high gas prices.