Presidential Campaigns Debate Energy

We are at a critical juncture in our energy future. Come hear representatives of the presidential campaigns debate the energy policies and plans of their candidates. For Senator Barack Obama, Jason Grumet, Founder and President of the Bipartisan Policy Center and for Senator John McCain, R. James Woolsey, Venture Partner and Senior Advisor with VantagePoint Venture Partners Event website Download the poster (116k pdf)

SUMMARY

Event: 90 minute debate between the 2008 Election candidates’ approach to the nation’s energy problems Speakers

• James Woolsey, former CIA director and current advisor on energy to Republican candidate McCain
• Jason Grumet, head of the National Commission on Energy Policy and current advisor on energy to Democratic candidate Obama

The 90-minute debate was moderated by Tom Ashbrook, host of the NPR program “On Point”. Four MIT students and two journalists asked the questions. Organized by student-run MIT Energy Club and MIT Energy Initiative The speakers, long-time acquaintances, maintained a cheerful demeanor. The principle disagreement between the candidates’ policies is the extent of government involvement in shaping the country’s energy policy. McCain calls for more state control over energy policies while Obama favors more government investment in research and development such as spending $15 billion a year for 10 years on research to develop technologies to capture and store carbon emissions. McCain has proposed to invest $2 billion into this area. Woolsey argued that the reneues from the proposed ca-and-trade system can fund rest of the research. Woolsey stressed only “generic encouragement” by the government toward alternative energies, though McCain is willing to venture into offshore oil reserves. Alternatively, Grumet criticized the lack of detail in McCain’s energy policy and his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. He praised Obama’s push for federal mileage standards. Grumet criticized some of McCain’s past votes on energy-related bills. For example, he cited McCain’s “no” vote to a bill that would encourage development in nuclear power, a clean energy source which is financially not feasible without government support. In response to Grumet’s criticism of McCain’s voting record in renewable energy, Woolsey again stressed that McCain favors “generic encouragement” of renewable energy, not the detailed plans outlined in the bills. They both agreed that foreign oil dependence is a serious issue in the US and believe improving the country’s electric grid is a top priority. Afterward, the Tufts students met with Ian Boles and even got a photo shoot with him, at Elyse’s request! Attendees: Rachael Alldian, Matt McLevin, Cody Valdes, Lauren Weiner, Mike Graifman, Anna Simon, Elyse Tyson, Samina Hossain, Ana Wright, Jayson Uppal, Renee Birenbaum, Jesse Gosset, Max Leiserson