America has always risen to great challenges, and our dependence on oil is one of the
greatest we have
ever faced. It’s a threat to our national security, our planet and our economy. For
decades, Washington
has failed to solve this problem because of partisanship, the undue influence of special
interests, and
politicians who would rather propose gimmicks to get them through an election instead of
long‐term
solutions that will get America closer to energy independence.
Our country cannot afford politics as usual – not at a moment when the energy challenge
we face is so
great and the consequences of inaction are so dangerous. We must act quickly and we must
act boldly to
transform our entire economy – from our cars and our fuels to our factories and our
buildings.
Achieving this goal will not be easy. Energy independence will require far more than the
same
Washington gimmicks and continued dependence on costly and finite resources. It will
require a
sustained and shared effort by our government, our businesses, and the American people.
But America
has overcome great challenges before. With clarity of direction and leadership, there is
no question that
we possess the insight, resources, courage and the determination to build a new economy
that is
powered by clean and secure energy.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a comprehensive energy plan that provides immediate
relief to
struggling families. It also summons the nation to face one of the great challenges of
our time:
confronting our dependence on foreign oil, addressing the moral, economic and
environmental challenge
of global climate change, and building a clean energy future that benefits all
Americans.
The Obama‐Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:
• Provide short‐term relief to American families facing pain at the pump
• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next
ten years
to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and
Venezuela
combined
• Put 1 million Plug‐In Hybrid cars – cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon
– on the road by
2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25
percent by
2025
• Implement an economy‐wide cap‐and‐trade program to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions 80
percent by 2050
SHORTTERM
SOLUTIONS: IMMEDIATE RELIEF FROM PAIN AT THE PUMP
Barack Obama and Joe Biden recognize that skyrocketing energy costs are taking a heavy
toll on
American families. To address the squeeze on Americans, they are calling for an:
emergency energy
rebate; an aggressive plan to crack down on speculators; and a swap of oil from the
Strategic Petroleum
Reserve to help provide immediate relief from soaring energy prices.
• Immediately Provide Emergency Energy Rebate. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require
oil
companies to take a reasonable share of their record‐breaking windfall profits and
use it to
provide direct relief worth $500 for an individual and $1,000 for a married couple. The
relief
would be delivered as quickly as possible to help families cope with the rising price of
gasoline,
food and other necessities. The rebates would be fully paid for with five years of a
windfall profits
tax on record oil company profits. This relief would be a down payment on the
Obama‐Biden longterm
plan to provide middle‐class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent
tax relief.
The Obama‐Biden energy rebates will: offset the entire increase in gas prices for a
working family
over the next four months; or pay for the entire increase in winter heating bills for a
typical family
in a cold‐weather state. In addition, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have proposed
setting aside a
portion of a second round of fiscal stimulus to ensure sufficient funding for home
heating and
weatherization assistance as we move into the fall and winter months.
• Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation. Current loopholes in Commodity Futures
Trading
Commission regulations have contributed to the skyrocketing price of oil on world
markets. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact simple legislation to close these
loopholes and
increase transparency on the market to help bring oil prices down and prevent traders
from
unfairly lining their pockets at the expense of the American people.
• Swap Light and Heavy Crude, Release Oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.
The
United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is there for a purpose: to help
Americans in
times of crisis. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the doubling of oil prices in the
past year is a
crisis for millions of Americans and the transfer of wealth to oil producing countries,
many of
them hostile to our interests, is a threat to our national security. With the goal of
bringing down
prices at the pump, they support releasing light oil from the SPR now and replacing it
later with
heavier crude more suited to our long‐term needs.
MIDTO
LONGTERM
SOLUTIONS: NEW ENERGY FOR AMERICA
Our nation is confronted by two major energy challenges –our dependence on foreign oil
and global
climate change – both of which stem from our current dependence on fossil fuels for
energy. Barack
Obama and Joe Biden believe we have a moral, environmental, economic, and security
imperative to
address our dependence on foreign oil and tackle climate change in a serious, sustainable
manner.
Tackle Climate Change
As a result of climate change, the polar ice caps are shrinking causing sea levels to
rise; extreme weather
is wreaking havoc across the globe; droughts are becoming more severe, tropical diseases
are migrating
north and numerous species are being threatened with extinction.
• Implement Cap and Trade Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Barack Obama and
Joe Biden support implementation of an economy‐wide cap‐and‐trade
system to reduce carbon
emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary: 80 percent below 1990 levels by
2050. This
market mechanism has worked before and will give all American consumers and businesses
the
incentives to use their ingenuity to develop economically effective solutions to climate
change. The
Obama‐Biden cap‐and‐trade policy will require all pollution credits to
be auctioned. A 100
percent auction ensures that all industries pay for every ton of emissions they release,
rather than
giving these valuable emission rights away to companies on the basis of their past
pollution. A
small portion of the receipts generated by auctioning allowances ($15 billion per year)
will be
used to support the development of clean energy, invest in energy efficiency
improvements, and
help develop the next generation of biofuels and clean energy vehicles – measures that
will help
the economy and help meet the emissions reduction targets. It will also be used to
provide new
funding to state and federal land and wildlife managers to restore habitat, create
wildlife
migration corridors, and assist fish and wildlife to adapt to the effects of a warming
climate. All
remaining receipts will be used for rebates and other transition relief to ensure that
families and
communities are not adversely impacted by the transition to a new energy, low carbon
economy.
• Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change. Barack Obama and Joe Biden understand that
the
only real solution to climate change requires all major emitting nations to join in the
solution.
While it is time for America to lead, developing nations like China and Brazil must not
be far
behind in making their own binding commitments. To develop an effective and equitable
global
program, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will re‐engage with the U.N. Framework
Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCC) – the main international forum dedicated to addressing the
climate
problem. They will also invigorate the Major Economies (MEM) effort and bring all the
major
emitting nations together to develop effective emissions reduction efforts.
Invest in Our Secure Energy Future and Create 5 Million New Jobs
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will use a portion of the revenue generated from the
cap‐and‐trade permit
auction to make investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and accelerate
deployment of
low‐carbon technologies. The investments will focus on three critical areas: 1)
Basic Research; 2)
Technology Demonstration and 3) Aggressive Commercial Deployment and Clean Market
Creation.
• Invest In A Clean Energy Economy and Help Create 5 Million New Green Jobs. Barack
Obama
and Joe Biden will strategically invest $150 billion over 10 years to accelerate the
commercialization of plug‐in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale
renewable
energy, encourage energy efficiency, invest in low emissions coal plants, advance the
next
generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, and begin transition to a new digital
electricity grid.
The plan will also invest in America's highly‐skilled manufacturing workforce and
manufacturing
centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer
the green
technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world. All together these
investments will
help the private sector create 5 million new green jobs, good jobs that cannot be
outsourced.
• Create a “Green Vet Initiative”. The renewable energy economy is exploding in the
United States.
In terms of venture capital alone, private investment in the sector topped $2.6 billion
dollars in
2007. At the same time, more than 837,000 troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are
now
veterans. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure that more of our veterans can enter the
new
energy economy. They will create a new “Green Vet Initiative” that will have two
missions: first it
will offer counseling and job placement to help veterans gain the skills to enter this
rapidly
growing field; second, it will work with industry partners to create career pathways and
educational programs.
• Convert our Manufacturing Centers into Clean Technology Leaders. America boasts the
highest‐skilled manufacturing workforce in the world and advanced manufacturing
facilities that
have powered economic growth in America for decades. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe
that
America companies and workers should build the high‐demand technologies of the
future, and he
will help nurture America’s success in clean technology manufacturing by establishing a
federal
investment program to help manufacturing centers modernize and help Americans learn new
skills to produce green products. This federal grant program will allocate money to the
states to
identify and support local manufacturers with the most compelling plans for modernizing
existing
or closed manufacturing facilities to produce new advanced clean technologies. This
investment
will help provide the critical up‐front capital needed by small and mid‐size
manufacturers to
produce these innovative new technologies. Along with an increased federal investment in
the
research, development and deployment of advanced technologies, this $1 billion per year
investment will help spur sustainable economic growth in communities across the country.
• Create New Job Training Programs for Clean Technologies. The Obama‐Biden plan
will
increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to
incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and
weatherization
training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high‐paying
jobs. Barack
Obama and Joe Biden will also create an energy‐focused youth jobs program to invest
in
disconnected and disadvantaged youth. This program will provide youth participants with
energy
efficiency and environmental service opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of
homes and
buildings in their communities, while also providing them with practical skills and
experience in
important career fields of expected high‐growth employment. Participants will not
only be able to
use their training to find new jobs, but also build skills that will help them move up
the career
ladder over time.
Make our Cars, Trucks and SUV’s Fuel Efficient
Last year, oil provided more than 96 percent of the energy in our vehicles. It is an
economic, national
security and environmental imperative that this near‐total dependence comes to an
end. To achieve this
goal, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will implement a strategy that will – within 10 years
‐ allow us to
reduce our consumption of oil by more than we currently import from the Middle East and
Hugo Chavez’s
Venezuela combined. In order to do that, he will:
• Increase Fuel Economy Standards. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will increase fuel economy
standards 4 percent per each year while protecting the financial future of domestic
automakers.
The plan, which will save nearly a half trillion gallons of gasoline and 6 billion metric
tons of
greenhouse gases, will establish concrete targets for annual fuel efficiency increases
while giving
industry the flexibility to meet those targets.
• Invest in Developing Advanced Vehicles and Put 1 Million Plugin
Electric Vehicles on the Road
by 2015. As a U.S. senator, Barack Obama has led efforts to jumpstart federal investment
in
advanced vehicles, including combined plug‐in hybrid/flexible fuel vehicles, which
can get over
150 miles per gallon of gas As president, Obama will continue this leadership by
investing in
advanced vehicle technology with a specific focus on R&D in advanced battery technology.
The
increased federal funding will leverage private sector funds and support our domestic
automakers
to bring plug‐in hybrids and other advanced vehicles to American consumers. Barack
Obama and
Joe Biden will also provide a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of advanced technology
vehicles as
well as conversion tax credits. And to help create a market and show government
leadership in
purchasing highly efficient cars, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will commit to:
o Within one year of becoming President, the entire White House fleet will be converted
to
plug‐ins as security permits; and
o Half of all cars purchased by the federal government will be plug‐in hybrids or
all‐electric
by 2012
• Partner with Domestic Automakers. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also provide $4
billion
retooling tax credits and loan guarantees for domestic auto plants and parts
manufacturers, so
that the new fuel‐efficient cars can be built in the U.S. by American workers
rather than overseas.
This measure will strengthen the U.S. manufacturing sector and help ensure that American
workers will build the high‐demand cars of the future.
• Mandate All New Vehicles are Flexible Fuel Vehicles. Sustainably‐produced
biofuels can create
jobs, protect the environment and help end oil addiction – but only if Americans drive
cars that
will take such fuels. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work with Congress and auto
companies to
ensure that all new vehicles have FFV capability – the capability by the end of his first
term in
office.
• Develop the Next Generation of Sustainable Biofuels and Infrastructure. Advances in
biofuels,
including cellulosic ethanol, biobutenol and other new technologies that produce
synthetic
petroleum from sustainable feedstocks offer tremendous potential to break our addiction
to oil.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work to ensure that these clean alternative fuels are
developed
and incorporated into our national supply as soon as possible. They will require at least
60 billion
gallons of advanced biofuels by 2030. They will invest federal resources, including tax
incentives
and government contracts into developing the most promising technologies and building
the
infrastructure to support them.
• Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will
establish a
National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to speed the introduction of low‐carbon
nonpetroleum
fuels. The standard requires fuels suppliers in 2010 to begin to reduce the carbon of
their fuel by 5 percent within 5 years and 10 percent within 10 years. The
Obama‐Biden plan will
incentivize increased private sector investment in advanced low‐carbon fuels and
has a
sustainability provision to ensure that increased biofuels production does not come at
the expense
of environmental conservation. The LCFS is an important mechanism in ensuring that our
efforts
to reduce our oil dependence also reduce carbon emissions.
Promote the Supply of Domestic Energy
With 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, the U.S. cannot drill its way to energy
security. But U.S. oil and
gas production plays an important role in our domestic economy and remains critical to
prevent global
energy prices from climbing even higher. There are several key opportunities to support
increased U.S.
production of oil and gas that do not require opening up currently protected areas.

• A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Leases. Oil companies have access to 68
million acres of land, over 40 million offshore, which they are not drilling on. Drilling
in open areas could significantly increase domestic oil and gas production. Barack Obama
and Joe Biden will require oil companies to diligently develop these leases or turn them
over so that another company can develop them.

• Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas. Barack Obama and
Joe
Biden will set up a process for early identification of any infrastructure
obstacles/shortages or possible federal permitting process delays to drilling in:
o Bakken Shale in Montana and North Dakota which could have as much as 4 billion
recoverable barrels of oil according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
o Unconventional natural gas supplies in the Barnett Shale formation in Texas and the
Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas.
o National Petroleum Reserve‐Alaska (NPR‐A) which comprises 23.5 million
acres of federal
land set aside by President Harding to secure the nation's petroleum reserves for
national
security purposes.
• Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline. Barack Obama and Joe
Biden
will work with stakeholders to facilitate construction of the pipeline. While this
pipeline was
proposed in 1976, and Congress authorized up to $18 billion in loan guarantees for this
project in
2004, there has been no progress in building this critical energy infrastructure under
the Bush
Administration. The planned pipeline would have a daily capacity of 4 billion cubic feet
of natural
gas, or almost 7 percent of current U.S. consumption. Not only is this pipeline critical
to our energy
security, it will create thousands of new jobs.
• Getting More from our Existing Oil Fields. Nationally, experts believe that up to 85
billion barrels
of technically recoverable oil remains stranded in existing fields. Enhanced oil recovery
(EOR)
using carbon dioxide offers an immediate‐ to medium‐term opportunity to
produce more oil from
existing fields. And in the EOR process, large quantities of CO2 can be sequestered
underground,
reducing global warming pollution. Under an Obama Administration, we will pass a carbon
capand‐
trade‐bill, which will incentivize emitters to send their CO2 to old oil fields for
EOR, thereby
providing economic benefits while also stimulating additional domestic oil and gas
production. To
speed that process, we will map all stationary CO2 sources and develop a database to
help
industry calculate the most cost‐effective oil field destination for each source's
CO2.
Diversify Our Energy Sources
There are no silver bullet solutions to our energy crises. Our economy, security and
environment will be
best served through a sustained effort to diversify our energy sources. Barack Obama and
Joe Biden will:
• Require 10 Percent of Electricity to Come from Renewable Sources by 2012. Barack Obama
and
Joe Biden will establish a 10 percent federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to
require that
10 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. is derived from clean, sustainable energy
sources,
like solar, wind and geothermal by 2012. Many states are already well on their way to
achieving
statewide goals and it’s time for the federal government to provide leadership for the
entire
country to support these new industries. This national requirement will spur significant
private
sector investment in renewable sources of energy and create thousands of new American
jobs,
especially in rural areas. And Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also extend the federal
Production
Tax Credit (PTC) for 5 years to encourage the production of renewable energy.
• Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology. Carbon capture and storage technologies hold
enormous potential to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions as we power our economy with
domestically produced and secure energy. As a U.S. Senator, Obama has worked tirelessly
to
ensure that clean coal technology becomes commercialized. An Obama administration will
provide incentives to accelerate private sector investment in commercial scale
zero‐carbon coal
facilities. In order to maximize the speed with which we advance this critical
technology, Barack
Obama and Joe Biden will instruct DOE to enter into public private partnerships to
develop 5
“first‐of‐a‐kind” commercial scale coal‐fired plants with carbon
capture and sequestration.
• Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy. Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our
noncarbon
generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if
we
eliminate nuclear power as an option. However, before an expansion of nuclear power is
considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste,
waste
storage, and proliferation. Barack Obama introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to
establish
guidelines for tracking, controlling and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear power
plants. To
prevent international nuclear material from falling into terrorist hands abroad, Obama
worked
closely with Sen. Dick Lugar (R‐IN) to strengthen international efforts to identify
and stop the
smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. As president, Obama will make safeguarding
nuclear
material both abroad and in the U.S. a top anti‐terrorism priority. In terms of
waste storage,
Barack Obama and Joe Biden do not believe that Yucca Mountain is a suitable site. They
will lead
federal efforts to look for safe, long‐term disposal solutions based on objective,
scientific analysis.
In the meantime, they will develop requirements to ensure that the waste stored at
current
reactor sites is contained using the most advanced dry‐cask storage technology
available.
Commitment to Efficiency to Reduce Energy Use and Lower Costs
According to the United Nations, America is only the 22nd most energy efficient country
among the major
economies in the world, which means we spend more on energy than we need to because our
lifestyle
and our built environment are wasting too much excess energy. Since 1973, the average
amount of
electricity each of us uses has tripled. We can do better. An Obama administration will
strive to make
America the most energy efficient country in the world.
• Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy SourceEnergy
Efficiency. The Department of
Energy (DOE) projects that demand for electricity will increase by 1.1 percent per year
over the
next few decades. Cutting this demand growth through efficiency is both possible and
economically sound. Barack Obama will set an aggressive energy efficiency goal—to reduce
electricity demand 15 percent from DOE’s projected levels by 2020. Implementing this
program
will save consumers a total of $130 billion, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than
5 billion
tons through 2030, and create jobs. A portion of this goal would be met by setting annual
demand
reduction targets that utilities would need to meet. The rest would come from more
stringent
building and appliance standards.
• Set National Building Efficiency Goals. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will establish a
goal of
making all new buildings carbon neutral, or produce zero emissions, by 2030. They will
also
establish a national goal of improving new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing
building
efficiency by 25 percent over the next decade to help us meet the 2030 goal.
• Overhaul Federal Efficiency Standards. The current Department of Energy has missed 34
deadlines for setting updated appliance efficiency standards, which has cost American
consumers
millions of dollars in unrealized energy savings. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will
overhaul this
process for appliances and provide more resources to his Department of Energy so it
implements
regular updates for efficiency standards. They will also work with Congress to ensure
that it
continues to play a key role in improving our national efficiency codes.
• Reduce Federal Energy Consumption. Currently, the federal government is the world’s
largest
single consumer of energy in the world, spending approximately $14.5 billion on energy
consumption in FY 2008. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe in the importance of leading
by
example. They will make the federal government a leader in the green building market,
achieving
a 40 percent increase in efficiency in all new federal buildings within five years and
ensuring that
all new federal buildings are zero‐emissions by 2025. They will invest in
cost‐effective retrofits to
achieve a 25 percent increase in efficiency of existing federal buildings within 5 years.
The Obama‐
Biden plan will put forward the resources necessary to achieve a 15 percent reduction in
federal
energy consumption by 2015.
• Flip Incentives to Energy Utilities. An Obama administration will “flip” incentives to
utility
companies by: requiring states to conduct proceedings to implement incentive changes;
and
offering them targeted technical assistance. These measures will benefit utilities for
improving
energy efficiency, rather than just from supporting higher energy consumption. This
“regulatory
equity” starts with the decoupling of profits from increased energy usage, which will
incentivize
utilities to partner with consumers and the federal and state governments to reduce
monthly
energy bills for families and businesses. The federal government under an Obama
administration
will play an important and positive role in flipping the profit model for the utility
sector so that
shareholder profit is based on reliability and performance as opposed to total
production.
• Invest in a Smart Grid. Achieving these aggressive energy efficiency goals will require
significant
innovation in the way we transmit electricity and monitor its use. Barack Obama and Joe
Biden
will pursue a major investment in our national utility grid using smart metering,
distributed
storage and other advanced technologies to accommodate 21st century energy requirements:
greatly improved electric grid reliability and security, a tremendous increase in
renewable
generation and greater customer choice and energy affordability. They will establish a
Grid
Modernization Commission to facilitate adoption of Smart Grid practices across the
nation's
electricity grid to the point of general adoption and ongoing market support in the U.S.
electric
sector. They will instruct the Secretary of Energy to: (1) establish a Smart Grid
Investment
Matching Grant Program to provide reimbursement of one‐fourth of qualifying Smart
Grid
investments; (2) conduct programs to deploy advanced techniques for managing peak load
reductions and energy efficiency savings on customer premises from smart metering,
demand
response, distributed generation and electricity storage systems; and (3) establish
demonstration
projects specifically focused on advanced technologies for power grid sensing,
communications,
analysis, and power flow control, including the integration of demand‐side
resources into grid
management.

• Weatherize One Million Homes Annually. In the struggle with higher energy prices low
income
families are suffering the most and receiving the least attention. Across the nation,
poor families this winter will increasingly face the choice between heating and eating as
prices for natural gas,heating oil, propane and electricity skyrocket. To address the
immediate challenge this winter, we must fully fund LIHEAP and ensure that everyone who
needs it has access to heating assistance.
Over the longer‐term, a significant part of the answer for low income families is
home
weatherization. By upgrading a home’s furnace, sealing leaky ducts, fixing windows, and
adding
insulation we can cut energy bills by 20 ‐ 40 percent and the substantial savings
accrue with
summer air conditioning as well as winter heating. And by adding energy efficient
appliances and
lighting the savings are even greater. While the nation has weatherized about 5.5 million
lowincome
homes since 1976, more than 28 million remain eligible. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will
make a national commitment to weatherize at least one million low‐income homes each
year for
the next decade, which can reduce energy usage across the economy and help moderate
energy
prices for all.
• Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities. Over the long term, we know that the
amount of fuel we will use is