Independence from foreign oil. Alternative and renewable energy resources. Climate change. These terms have been heard in the news, come up in conversation and have been tossed around by presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. But despite the rhetoric, the environment has been overshadowed by issues such as the economy, fuel prices and the war in Iraq, according to a Gallup poll.
“I think people’s concerns about the economy and a lot of misunderstanding about energy and climate change is leading to the environment not getting maybe as much critical and detailed attention that it deserves,” said Dr. Joseph Arvai, the associate director of the environmental science and policy program at MSU.
The discussion the candidates have devoted to environmental and energy issues has been difficult to sort through, said Ellen Bornhorst, a biosystems engineering junior and co-president of Eco.
“They say a lot of things, but it’s hard to know what they’ll do,” she said. “Both say that they will work towards more alternative energy, but they haven’t said a way to achieve that.”
One area many Americans are concerned with is the rising cost of fuel prices. Although both candidates support domestic oil drilling, they also are pushing alternative fuels such as biofuels, hybrid and electric technology.
Obama wants to have 1 million plug-in hybrid cars in the hands of consumers by 2015. Current hybrids run on electric motors at low speeds and gas at higher speeds. Newer models charge by being plugged into the wall, said Dr. Dennis Miller, a chemical engineering professor who researches the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources.
“There will be electric cars available in two years, like GM’s Volt in 2010,” Miller said. “The technology for hybrids is here.”
McCain is pushing the Clean Car Challenge, which will provide automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for each zero-emission car sold. He also is promoting alternative fuels such as ethanol, especially cellulosic ethanol.
Miller’s research deals with developing renewable fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, and chemicals for use in plastics and other items. He said cellulosic ethanol is made from the structural part of a plant, such as corn stalks or grass, as opposed to ethanol made from the starches from the kernels of corn.
This type of ethanol is less likely to interfere with food crops, according to McCain’s Web site.
“The food versus fuel controversy has come up in the last two years since the ethanol industry has really grown up,” Miller said. “The demand for ethanol has gone up exponentially and it takes a few years to increase corn production.”
Much of the funding supporting general research at MSU and Miller’s research, specifically, comes from federal funding that could be affected by the party that gains power, said Dr. Steven Pueppke, an assistant vice president for research and graduate studies and director of the office of biobased technologies.
“Both parties have indicated that they want renewable and alternative energy, so opportunities will still be out there regardless of which party (wins the presidency),” Pueppke said.
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