On Monday, Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama delivered a major policy speech on energy at Michigan State University in Lansing. In the speech, Obama unveiled his energy plan and outlined a number of specific policies designed to lessen the United States' dependence on foreign oil by switching to a renewable energy economy through a mix of new funding and expansion of oil production, nuclear power, and so-called "clean coal" technologies.

Obama began his remarks by putting them in the context of higher gas prices. He said that politicians--going back to Richard Nixon--have promised to reduced dependency on foreign oil yet it continues to increase, with the United States now getting a half of its oil from foreign sources. Obama said that current policy proposals--such as opening new areas to drilling--are insufficient and will not provide enough oil to lower prices, although they are politically popular. Instead, he said that every American should be given a $1,000 energy rebate paid for by taxes on excess oil company profits, that domestic production and exploration of oil and natural gas should be increased, and that 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should be sold. However, he said that none of these--including expanded offshore drilling which he supports as part of a "compromise" on energy legislation--would do enough to end dependency on foreign oil.

Instead, Obama outlined his plans for an "all-hands-on-deck effort" aimed at transforming the United States' economy with the "overarching goal" of eliminating reliance on oil from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 years.

To accomplish this, Obama promises a $150 billion investment over the next ten years to build a "new energy economy" and to develop programs that spur investment from the private sector. He promised that he would help states--such as Michigan--build fuel-efficient cars and will get one million 150 mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrid cars on the road within six years. To facilitate that goal, he promised tax credits to consumers and $4 billion in loans to auto plants and manufacturers.

Obama also committed to having 10% of the nation's energy coming from "renewable sources" by the end of his first term. He promised more research and development investment, while specifically promising to extend the Production Tax Credit for five years to encourage the production of wind power, solar power, and geothermal energy. He also set a goal of having 6 billion gallons of the United States' fuel coming from biofuels by 2022. Obama expressed support for expanded nuclear production and "clean coal" energy as well.

Finally, he said that he will call on "businesses, government, and the American people" to meet the goal of reducing the demand for electricity by 15% by 2020. In this portion of his speech, he had few specifics, beyond "a goal of making our new buildings 50% more efficient over the next four years."

According to Obama, all of these efforts will yield results by the end of his first term and will eventually lead to the creation of 5 million new jobs.

However, while some of what Obama said was refreshing--notably cutting carbon emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by 2050--he also remains committed to l so-called "solutions" to the energy situation and global warming that have received staunch opposition from environmental advocacy groups. For example, Obama remains committed to "clean coal" despite its negative environmental effects and uncertainty about the technology. Similarly, Obama is committed to developing nuclear power despite the environmental risks and huge financial costs. It is worth noting that over the past several years, Obama has received significant financial support from Exelon Corp, one of the nation's largest operators of nuclear power plants.

Beyond the proposals outlined in Monday's speech, Obama's energy plan also makes several additional proposals on energy, global warming, and related issues. His entire energy plan is available online.