rssMcCain Lays Out New Environment Proposals
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 2:44 pm
- 2 Comments
Joined by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Sen. John McCain focused on energy security and environmental stewardship this morning in Santa Barbara, Calif. McCain, who is wrapping up a two-day swing through the state, reiterated his plans to provide tax credits to Americans who purchase low-emission vehicles and a $300-million prize for the creator of a more efficient car battery, and he plugged his cap-and-trade plan for reducing carbon emissions.
He also laid out three new proposals, aimed at making the government more environmentally friendly.
McCain called for updating the national electrical grid to make it more efficient and to prepare for an electric car-infrastructure. He also suggested the federal government engage in greener practices in the construction and maintenance of its office buildings. However, he didn’t give any specifics as to what those standards should be.
Finally, he offered an ambitious plan to require all civilian vehicles purchased by the federal government — 60,000 annually — to be "flex-fuel capable, plug-in hybrid or cars fueled by clean natural gas."
The obvious problem is that a very limited number of models of plug-ins and natural-gas powered cars are currently available, and the United States has been slow to embrace flex-fuel technology — cars that can run on multiple fuels alone or in combination, like gasoline or ethanol. McCain, in his speech yesterday in Fresno, Calif., pointed to Brazil as an example of a country that made a rapid transition to a flex-fuel automotive infrastructure and said the United States should emulate this. Of course, if Washington did institute such a policy, Detroit would have a big incentive to develop the technology and produce the cars. In his speech yesterday, McCain briefly mentioned Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards — implying that existing regulations need to be enforced more aggressively, but stopping short of calling for higher standards, as he has in the past.
Schwarzenegger, a vocal proponent of increased federal action on climate change, opposes McCain’s plan to lift the federal moratorium on offshore oil exploration. This made Santa Barbara an interesting choice for their joint appearance. As The Los Angeles Times notes, the city was the site of a massive oil spill in 1969, " when an offshore platform ruptured and released 3 million gallons of oil. About 35 miles of Southern California coastline were soaked with oil and tar." Many activists today point to the spill as one of the BIG eye-opening events that spurred the modern environmental movement.
It will be interesting to see if McCain continues to press green issues in states other than California, where environmentalists abound. McCain was greeted this morning by about 100 environmental protesters.
2 Comments
Comment posted June 25, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
IT’S TIME TO TAKE STRONG ACTION ON FUEL. Email your representative in congress and push the issue: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
The best thing we can do is get the government off their drug trip and grow a crop that works. Don’t let them lie to you there is not enough farm land. We have over 100 million total farm acres in the USA and only use about half. The half that’s not being planted is more than enough to grow ALL our fuel. Not only that but the government is still paying farmers not to plant. Watch the video titled “HEMP FUEL Can Supply All Our Energy Needs” and read the article titled “Marijuana Facts The Government Does Not Want You To Know” on the website referenced at the bottom of this post.
—————-
Hemp requires no pesticides, no herbicides, and only moderate amounts of fertilizer.
Source: MARIJUANA AND HEMP THE UNTOLD STORY
—————
Hemp can produce several different kinds of fuel. In the 1800′s and 1900′s hempseed oil was the primary source of fuel in the United States and was commonly used for lamps and other oil energy needs. The diesel engine was originally designed to run on hemp oil because Rudolf Diesel assumed that it would be the most common fuel. Hemp is also the most efficient plant for the production of methanol. It is estimated that, in one form or another, hemp grown in the United States could provide up to ninety percent of the nation’s entire energy needs.
Source: Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
————
Hemp is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel. Hemp pellets can be used to produce clean electricity.
… so powerful it could replace every type of fossil fuel energy product (oil, coal, and natural gas).
… This plant is the earth’s number one biomass resource or fastest growing annual plant for agriculture on a worldwide basis, producing up to 14 tons per acre. This is the only biomass source available that is capable of producing all the energy needs of the U.S. and the world…
Hemp will produce cleaner air and reduce greenhouse gases. When biomass fuel burns, it produces CO2 (the major cause of the greenhouse effect), the same as fossil fuel; but during the growth cycle of the plant, photosynthesis removes as much CO2 from the air as burning the biomass adds, so hemp actually cleans the atmosphere. After the first cycle there is no further loading to the atmosphere…
Source: USA Hemp Museum
——————
JOIN THE EMAIL LIST, WATCH THE FUEL VIDEOS:
Internet Explorer: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home
Other Browsers: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html
Comment posted June 25, 2008 @ 11:55 am
IT'S TIME TO TAKE STRONG ACTION ON FUEL. Email your representative in congress and push the issue: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
The best thing we can do is get the government off their drug trip and grow a crop that works. Don't let them lie to you there is not enough farm land. We have over 100 million total farm acres in the USA and only use about half. The half that's not being planted is more than enough to grow ALL our fuel. Not only that but the government is still paying farmers not to plant. Watch the video titled “HEMP FUEL Can Supply All Our Energy Needs” and read the article titled “Marijuana Facts The Government Does Not Want You To Know” on the website referenced at the bottom of this post.
—————-
Hemp requires no pesticides, no herbicides, and only moderate amounts of fertilizer.
Source: MARIJUANA AND HEMP THE UNTOLD STORY
—————
Hemp can produce several different kinds of fuel. In the 1800's and 1900's hempseed oil was the primary source of fuel in the United States and was commonly used for lamps and other oil energy needs. The diesel engine was originally designed to run on hemp oil because Rudolf Diesel assumed that it would be the most common fuel. Hemp is also the most efficient plant for the production of methanol. It is estimated that, in one form or another, hemp grown in the United States could provide up to ninety percent of the nation's entire energy needs.
Source: Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
————
Hemp is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel. Hemp pellets can be used to produce clean electricity.
… so powerful it could replace every type of fossil fuel energy product (oil, coal, and natural gas).
… This plant is the earth's number one biomass resource or fastest growing annual plant for agriculture on a worldwide basis, producing up to 14 tons per acre. This is the only biomass source available that is capable of producing all the energy needs of the U.S. and the world…
Hemp will produce cleaner air and reduce greenhouse gases. When biomass fuel burns, it produces CO2 (the major cause of the greenhouse effect), the same as fossil fuel; but during the growth cycle of the plant, photosynthesis removes as much CO2 from the air as burning the biomass adds, so hemp actually cleans the atmosphere. After the first cycle there is no further loading to the atmosphere…
Source: USA Hemp Museum
——————
JOIN THE EMAIL LIST, WATCH THE FUEL VIDEOS:
Internet Explorer: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home
Other Browsers: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html
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