Photo: law_keven, Creative Commons, Flickr
Tonight I watched the second presidential debate. Both John McCain and Barack Obama pointed out that energy is a foundation of our economy. But from what they said about energy and the environment, I agree more with Obama’s view of things.

John McCain and nuclear power:

I’m not really against nuclear power, per se, but I think that John McCain focuses on it too much. Even though he briefly paid lip service to other types of alternative energy, it was obvious that he sees an energy future that consists mostly of nuclear power and domestic drilling. This is what he emphasized when he talked about our need to get off of foreign oil. And while he’s right that alternative energy will provide more jobs for the economy, I don’t really like his narrow focus on fossil fuels augmented by nuclear. That’s just not going to be enough.

Barack Obama and the 10-year alternative energy plan:

One of the things I like about Obama is that he has the ability to inspire — well, he inspires me at least. I like how he set a timeline for alternative energy. This is an aggressive move that implies that if he becomes president, Barack Obama will push government investment in alternative energy, and incentivize it to galvanize the private sector. I also like that he recognizes that our growing energy needs cannot be met by one or two types of energy. Obama recognizes that oil and coal were the fuels of the 20th century. He’s prepared to bring us into the 21st century, and he’s prepared to invest the capital needed to change our energy economy.

This alternative energy economy means millions of more jobs. And Obama also points out that — this I really like — putting American innovation to work on the issue of energy means that we can use our vast intelligence resources to create technology that we can then export to the rest of the world. He’s not just talking about creating something that will get us off foreign oil. He’s going beyond and talking about America becoming the energy exporter to the world.

And he plans to pay for this expansion through re-evaluating our tax system and refiguring our spending priorities, which I’m all for. We’ve been paying too much on useless ideas and programs. I’m ready for a change that focuses on real-world solutions that will help America retain her prosperity and influence.

What do you think about what the energy proposals offered at Tuesday’s debate?

Disclosure: I plan to vote for Barack Obama.

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Photo: Steve Rhodes, Creative Commons, Flickr