Presidential debate at Ole Miss: energy is key to all

Tonight Sen. John McCain faces Sen. Barack Obama in the first presidential debate down yonder in Oxford, Mississippi, home of Ole Miss and William Faulkner. Ole Miss is straight out of ‘Gone with the Wind’—moss hanging from ancient oaks and residents talking with a Southern accent so defined it makes Jimmy Carter sound like a Yankee. Tonight’s the foreign policy debate and I hope the candidates will talk about energy because that's key to every problem we face. I also hope this won’t be one of those dry, dull, eye-glazing debates. Jim Lehrer is moderating and he’s about as lively as an empty chair, no disrespect intended.

 I read an article in The Christian Science Monitor. Investment strategist Fred Dickson said Wall Street produces “growth drivers” and those pull the economy out of a slump. Dickson said we had a recession but then technology and telecommunications did the trick. After our last recession, housing and mortgages did it. This time alternative energy should’ve done the trick. “[But] that whole area is now going to take longer to develop than it otherwise would.”

So won’t energy impact every policy area? We know energy costs will rise, not just for us but for everyone around the globe. That’s a double whammy—higher costs for a necessity will spur higher costs for other necessities. Bottom line: the prez has to get Congress up off their deliberative duffs and do something about energy. Everyone knows this has to be a multi-pronged approach. Otherwise lower income households will have more misery because income will decrease and so will middle and upper income households because those groups will fund the income tax hikes. At least if Obama wins. Note: he and I disagree strongly on what income level denotes “rich.”

So who can come up with a realistic energy policy and get those siblings in Congress to overcome their differences and pass necessary legislation? Count backwards through every single president since Gerald Ford. All failed.

Our energy problem impacts the economy, foreign policy (do we help China out with coal plant technology?) and national security (do we keep funding economies where the people hate our guts or do we drill, grab some natural gas, increase our solar panels and windmills and do whatever else it takes?) Maybe even pull a few barrels out of the Strategic Reserves for our brethren in the Carolinas.

Why can’t Washington get this done and get it done for a reasonable amount of money? Note to Sen. Joe Biden: study up on clean coal technology.