The two major U.S. presidential candidates, Barrack Obama and John McCain, have both expressed an interest in investing Federal money into green automotive technology. Although both men have differing ideas about what may be the best way to move forward, it's becoming clear that green automotive technology will be a point for debate as the election nears. This week, Obama visited with leading members of the Detroit automotive scene, including Rick Wagoner from General Motors and Alan Mulally from Ford, both of whom seemed pleased with how the dialogue went. When asked by Obama what he, as President, could do to help the ailing auto industry in the U.S., Wagoner responded by suggesting that the government contribute funds into the research and development of emerging technologies, such as automotive batteries. Maybe more than $30m, perhaps?

Assuming that the cost for new eco-friendly technology will be passed on to the consumer, Wagoner also suggested that the government make it easier to get into a new green car, which has been done to good effect with hybrid vehicles already. Obama, for his part, said he saw "surprising consensus" among the automotive industry representatives, so we'd imagine similar suggestions were heard all around.

Update: Fixed Rick Wagoner's name, thanks!

[Sources: The Detroit News, Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Andrew Littlefair (left) and T. Boone Pickens in Las Vegas in May

There was a lot of interest in my post about oil (and wind and natural gas) man T. Boone Pickens' presentation at the AFVI Expo last month. So, when I saw a new press release titled, "Boone Pickens: U.S. in Energy Crisis," I figured there was good reason to read it and maybe write about it. Turns out, yeah, there was.

Pickens wasn't exactly upbeat about the U.S. energy situation last month, and when he gave a speech to the Oil and Gas Investor's Energy Capital Forum in Houston earlier this week, he said the situation was at crisis level. It's so bad that it should be the most important issue of this fall's (and summer's) presidential campaign, he said. Pickens, who supports Republican candidate John McCain over Barack Obama (but acknowledged that McCain's whole summer gas tax holiday idea was wrong), said he's going to use his clout to "force this [a discussion on energy] into this campaign. We'll see if I have the credibility to force it into the debate." One way is by spending some of his billions on running energy issues ads on TV in the coming months.

There are some choice Pickens quotes in the release pasted after the break. Basically, Pickens believes, high gas prices are a good thing, as they're finally forcing people to change their mindset. Click through for more.

Leading presidential candidate Barack Obama earmarked $1 million for research on turning Hummers into hybrids. The earmark money will go to the Illinois Institute of Technology (Obama just happens to be the senator from Illinois) for the development of a cost-effective hybrid conversion kit. These kits could turn the army's gas guzzling Humvees into fuel efficient hybrids and would be a real endorsement for hybrid conversion in general.

The military is very interested in electric power trains because they offer many advantages on the battlefield like shorter supply lines and quiet operation. Obama has also been a very big supporter of hybrids even calling for every single government car to be a plug-in hybrid when it becomes possible. While, technically, GM can hybridize their Hummers and celebrities like Paris Hilton are willing to voice support for such a plan, GM probably won't make a hybrid Hummer.

[Source: Wired News, ABC News]

On a recent episode of the Daily Show, the spike and price of a barrel of oil was explained (see videos below the fold). The comedy news show's explanation includes $15 of the $104 for a barrel of oil going towards trying to convince the public that the oil companies are not raping the environment. Another $25 goes towards blackening the oil because oil actually comes out of the ground rainbow colored. Who knew? The Daily Show also took a shot at President Bush for his press conference where he said he was unaware of the predictions that gas prices could reach $4 a gallon and for his speech at the WIRC.

[Source: Daily Show]

President Bush gave a great speech (see video below the fold) at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference yesterday. Bush started the speech by joking about the length of the conference's name and his large motorcade. He quickly became serious, however, saying we have to "get off oil" and listed reasons including the reality that the sources of oil are often countries that don't like us. Bush then spoke about a green future where Texas farmers grow switchgrass that's turned into fuel for our cars, city people drive plug-in hybrids that have a 40-mile electric-only range and, in the long term, hydrogen-powered cars that produce only water as a waste product. Bush even talked about a flight by the Air Force with alternative fuels and, as we mentioned earlier, a recent flight on biofuels by Virgin Atlantic. What he just described, Bush says, is the "beginning of a new era," one that's almost equal to the era started by the Model T. The Bush administration has an exemplary record on green transport and this speech felt like it put a well-deserved capper on his accomplishments.

[Source: The White House via Detroit News]

Two days ago, we told you President Bush said he was unaware some analysts were predicting $4 for a gallon of gas in the U.S.. The day before Bush made those remarks, White House press secretary Dana Perino was actually asked about gas prices and she said "we're mindful of it." Yesterday, when asked if Bush was "joking around" when he said he did not know their was talk of $4 gas, the White House said that "the President's point was that neither his advisors nor Energy Department analysts are at this point forecasting $4-a-gallon gasoline."

But $4.00 gas is actually here today is some parts of the country. What does the White House have to say to that? "I think that the national average, as of earlier this week, was $3.15, according to the Energy Department and other surveys" says the White House. The EIA actually says $3.13 and "other surveys" must mean things like the AAA survey, which says $3.16. So, the White House uses multiple surveys for the average price of gas but only use a single, government source for predicting gas prices? That makes perfect sense because the EIA has been so incredibly accurate and its predictions have never changed (/sarcasm).

The price of a barrel of oil went over $103 recently and it's reasonable to think that, as a former oil man, the president knows $4 for a gallon of gas is very possible, even if he didn't see the predictions. Perhaps he was trying to defuse what might have been seen as an endorsement of the $4 prediction in the question, a number the EIA has not officially predicted. However, his appearing to have "no clue" on what analysts are predicting, as the CNN video below the fold says, is more disconcerting to some than the actual $4 predictions themselves.

[Source: The White House]

We told you there are concerns Tata Motor's Nano will drive up oil prices. What does Tata chairman Ratan Tata think about this? In the first video below the fold, Ratan laughs it off. We told you Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former Shell chairman said low MPG cars should be banned. Want to see Mark say that in his Prius? Check out the second video below the fold. We told Mitt Romney said he supported the Governator's right to get a waiver ... then Mitt took it back. Want to see Mitt's first position on the waiver? You can probably guess it's in the third video below the fold.

[Source: YouTube]

Last night, in his last State of the Union address, President George Bush said "let us continue investing in advanced battery technology and renewable fuels to power the cars and trucks of the future." You can see for yourself in the video above. We will have more on this later but from what he said and previews in the press, it looks like Bush won't have any major initiatives for cars in '08.

This is very different from last year when Bush not only talked up battery-powered cars and renewable fuels in the state of the Union but also hybrids, plug-ins, clean diesel, biodiesel and even CAFE. You can watch that video below the fold. President Bush got most of what he asked for in the energy bill that past late December. Do you think any more laws need to be written?

[Source: CSPAN2]

Leading presidential candidate Mike Huckabee took a ride on a Segway recently, as you can see in the video above. He goes about 0.0000005 MPH while someone holds him and someone else actually screams "moving forward." I am assuming his handlers wanted to avoid the photo-op and headline "Huckabee crashes Segway" which happened to president Bush as you can see in the pictures to the right. In the video above, Mike asks if he "can run over" the reporters surrounding him and the video ends with Mike saying "I didn't fall off and that was the main thing." The HuckChuckFacts video below was much cooler.

Related:

• Videos: Goober and Gomer in a flex fuel, plug-in hybrid? (Republicans debate PHEVs)
• Huckabee tells us God is green

[Source: Fox News]

In a December 6 White House press briefing, press secretary Dana Perino said the White House has a proposal for a new increase in the CAFE standard for light trucks and SUVs. The president has full control of the CAFE standard for light trucks (which includes SUVs but not passenger cars) and has used it twice in his administration. The news of a proposed, third change in SUV CAFE came in a response to a question on the support for the compromise reached on CAFE two weeks ago. As we reported, the president does not support the CAFE standards that are currently in the energy bill and threatened to the veto the energy bill because of it. Here is exactly what Dana said;

Q: I know there are a number of provisions in there that have drawn veto threats, but what about the CAFE standards? Is that -- the language that's in the bill now, that's in the House version, is that acceptable to the administration?

A: No, the way that it's drafted is not. The President wants to have increases in CAFE standards. He already has increased CAFE standards for SUVs and light trucks already twice in this administration. We have a proposal right now for a third. The reason he could do that is because under the law, he has the authority to do it. He doesn't have that authority on passenger cars. He's asked Congress for it for the last two years. They've not acted on it. So we've asked Secretary Peters and EPA Administrator Johnson to work towards that. But the way that language was specifically written, we can't support it in the House bill, but it might be able to get fixed in the conference committee.

Bush actually lost a law suit recently which said he did not do enough on CAFE, so, that proposal may just be reaction to the law suit. Friday morning, less than a day after the House passed the Energy Bill, the Senate killed it, with a vote of 53 for and 43 against, 7 fewer votes for the needed 60 to get it to the president's desk. The Senate will re-write the bill and there is some talk of making CAFE a bill all by itself. The CAFE compromise was a part of a larger bill and Dingell, one might argue, only made the compromise for the greater good of the energy bill. So, while CAFE is a settled issue in the energy bill, by itself, there might be changes.

Whats going to happen? I would not expect much before next year because there is talk that everyone might leave for Christmas vacation as early as Friday. Even if the Energy Bill or separate CAFE bill is sent to the house, it will probably go through a few more passes between the House and the Senate before going to the White House, which can let it sit for a while as well. In totally unrelated news (he said sarcastically) the Congress and President's approval ratings are at all time lows because they don't seem to be getting anything done.

[Source: White House, AutoBlog]

What did I tell ya? The great photo above is of Bush and Dingell from 2005 but it could have been two days ago. According to the Detroit News, the House has delayed the energy bill vote. As we reported, CAFE is largely settled and even Toyota has come out in support of the new agreement. Trouble is, John Dingell has a problem with it, and it's the same problem, it turns out, that the White House mentioned in a letter to Congress threatening to veto the bill again. So, do they just have to dot some i's and cross some t's on which agency will set CAFE? I doubt it because you see red herrings like this all the time in the polite debates in the Congress.

I would guess that once Bush put out the veto threat, Pelosi lost whatever votes she took from Dingell. When the rough draft of the bill is in Dingell's hands again, suddenly a change that was only going to be which agency will regulate, has 35 MPG crossed out and 27 put in its place. Will that happen? At this rate, we should find out by 2030 when the bill requires the change. It's also possible they pick an agency and the White House takes CAFE out of its letters to Congress. I doubt it because Dingell is like a ninja: if you see him, you are already dead.

Related:

• Fuel economy bill has seventy percent chance of passage
• White House threatens to veto energy bill again

[Source: The Detroit News]

Recently we reported that the CAFE issue was largely settled in the energy bill. On CSPAN Monday, Edmund Andrews of the New York Times even dared to say Dingell "lost." Do not underestimate the power of the Dingell side, you have no idea of the power he possesses. Don't believe me? Let's keep in mind that, according to the Detroit News, Dingel did an interview Saturday where he said he got no help from the White House.

On Monday, though, the White House threatened to veto the bill noting problems with which agency would regulate CAFE, which I find an odd problem for the Bush Administration to bring up now. I think this is Bush responding to Dingell's wishes, so don't be surprised if we see the supposedly settled issue of CAFE revisited many more times or the energy bill not pass at all because of issues with CAFE. Dingell is all powerful and makes the Sith Lord look like hash browns.

Related:

• Bush might veto the energy bill
• Bush might bring out the veto pen to strike 35 mpg dead
• Bush tells Congress how to write an energy bill
• Rep. John Dingell drops his fuel economy proposal

[Source: Detroit News, CSPAN]

Actor and presidential hopeful Fred Thompson made a joke about Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney that included a reference to hybrids and NASCAR. At first, Fred made a joke equating Democrats to NASCAR (because they only turn left) and commented America was not ready to "turn over the keys" to the "most left-wing part of the left-wing party." Fred then had a suggestion for the good people of Northeastern Iowa;

Now, when Rudy and Mitt come down here from New York and Massachusetts, I want you to be nice to them. And the first thing I want you to do is explain to them what NASCAR is. ... It's not a hybrid automobile.

Iowa is "down here" meaning the south? Iowa is above the Mason–Dixon Line, in the Midwest and at the same latitude as New York. Anyway, while a lot of auto racing has gone green and many of the fastest cars in the world are electric, the idea that NASCAR will go hybrid is a joke.

Related:

• NASCAR engine builder responds to questions about unleaded gas, ethanol
• Toyota takes the Prius to the NASCAR demographic
• First-ever all-ethanol Indy 500 has a winner...
• World Touring Car Championship to run ethanol exclusively from 2009

[Source: ABC News]

The traditional pardoned White House turkeys were delivered by a Flex Fuel Ford F-150 running on E85. The turkeys were named "May" and "Flower" and not "the names the Vice President suggested, which was 'Lunch' and 'Dinner,'" joked President Bush. The turkeys were delivered by Hotel Washington bellhops, in dog carriers, at 8:10 am to the waiting Ford F-150 as camera crews from Toyko TV and NBC News recorded the entire thing. The Ford drove two blocks to the White House.

Ziad Ojakli, Ford's group vice president for government and community relations, said "Corn is the turkeys' fuel and the truck's. ... Ford is pleased to provide the getaway vehicle in the turkey-cade." After the pardoning ceremony at noon, the turkeys in a dozen-car motorcade, escorted by 5 police motorbikes and a police car with sirens on, drove to Dulles Airport. The turkeys are going to Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland. They are going to be grand marshals of Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[Source: Detroit News]

In an interview with TechCrunch, presidential hopeful John Edwards says he will bring the electric car back from the dead. John says there is a trend of having America develop technologies like the electric car only to have other countries lead on deploying and marketing. Many candidates have mentioned hybrids and fuel efficiency but John is the first I have heard to mention electric cars. Here is his exact quote:

I will reverse the trend of having America invent transformative new technologies like the electric car and the solar panel, only to have other countries lead in deploying and marketing them.

The Edwards camp also attacked Hillary recently for her voting record on ethanol. Obama has done the same, calling her energy bill a major reversal. Hillary has explained her change in position on the growth in ethanol in her state but John's energy plan gives much more support to ethanol by calling for all cars be flex fuel and for more ethanol pumps at gas stations.

In a video below the fold, John explains that he supports the not-very-efficient corn-based ethanol right now because investment in further ethanol infrastructure won't come without such support and the investment will build a pathway for more efficient biofuels.

[Source: TechCrunch, The Courier, YouTube]