This week’s non-debate debate about energy policy has been fascinating. Neither candidate–except Nader and Gore–really excites me about energy. Here’s why…

I like high gas prices. I don’t want prices to come down, I want them to stay between $4-5 a gallon. Americans drove 3% less these last few months compared to last year, a positive move towards restoring God’s creation. High gas prices will continue this trend. High gas prices give auto makers incentive to make smaller more fuel-efficient cars because they cause consumers to buy them. High gas prices are good.

But, high gas prices hurt the poor, so…. This isn’t rocket science, it’s good policy: as demand decreases and prices fall, I’d support taxes to keep gas prices in the $4-5 range. This will keep consumers making smart choices–for our economy and for creation. Let’s invest the money from these taxes in public transport, in neighborhood development that brings stores within walking distance, in incentives for alternative energy. But this still hurts the poor, I know. So if you make under a certain amount, say family household income of $80k, you get a check at the end of the year that will reimburse you for the difference of said tax. Folks will end up not being out of pocket for gas, but they also end up making better oil and energy choices throughout the year.

McCain’s (and Hillary’s) gas tax holiday is bunk. It would only get folks back about $30 a year. That’s not a policy, it’s a pander.

Drilling offshore is silly because full production takes 10 years to develop, and even then the amount of oil we’ll drill offshore doesn’t amount to anything compared to the rise in consumption by India and China.

But we need to get “American oil” you say? Well, that’s silly too. It’s a world market. We don’t buy “American oil,” oil companies drill oil from one giant pool of oil, and sell it wherever they can make the most profit. If “American oil” can be accessed cheaply, companies will simply ship it to the market with the highest price.

Here’s the big issue: oil production will peak, no matter what, in my lifetime. Estimates differ, but let’s say it’ll peak in the next 20-50 years. If we’re not weaned off the black stuff by then, we will only have ourselves to blame.

And don’t even let me start on ethanol. It not only takes more energy to make it than it supplies, but it also majorly screws up the world food market. I know farmers are suffering under high oil prices, but subsidies for ethanol only make matters worse.  Ethanol subsidies are an enormous waste of resources.

What gets me about the oil crisis, is that it’s not like we didn’t see this coming. Remember those solar panels on the roof of the Carter White House? We had the right idea in the 70s, then got lazy and backed off. Stupid.

I don’t hear a truly reasonable comprehensive plan from either McCain or Obama, and certainly not one that embraces the gravity of the crisis. If–as both candidates have now said–increasing our average tire pressure will make a significant difference, then where’s the national plan to have free air pumps at every gas station, court house, and public park? I appreciate the fact that the Democratic Convention will be carbon neutral, but it’s a drop in the bucket (or “oil drum”).

My blood pressure is rising. Rant ends here.

Update:  Flush With Energy by THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN in today’s Times addresses the 70s issues and sounds pretty sensible to me.