Why I'm Voting Not Obama in 08- Energy

This will be the first post in an oft and on series justifying why I will not vote for the change candidate. I am no Bush lackie, I don't think McCain is a great candidate, but I have serious political problems with Obama.

The Energy Issue
In a recent issue of Fortune Magazine, Obama told the interviewer that his plan to solve the energy crisis is to tax fossil fuel production, such as gasoline, in order to create an economic incentive to develop alternative fuels. Anyone who has taken an economics class will recognize this for what it is- an excise tax. And anyone who has paid attention in said economics class will recognize that excise taxes don't decrease profits for a firm, as the firm raises prices in order to maintain profits, passing along the tax to the consumer. Considering that gasoline is already taxed at a high rate, and it has not forced the creation of effective fossil fuels, it is highly unlikely that such a policy would work.

Furthermore, there currently isn't an effective alternative fuel that can substitute for the demand for crude oil and gasoline. We are years away from a purely electric car, despite the fact the technology for alternative electricity development such as wind and solar power is effective in the status quo. Even though we can generate alternative electricity effectively it won't help until fully electric cars are developed and made efficient, and even then it will take time to convert the fleet. Ethanol is another oft-cited alternative fuel, but corn ethanol has been proven not only to be inefficient but also has driven up food prices because of the massive amounts of corn required to make ethanol fuel. With the massive amount of flooding in the midwest, as well as already high food prices, it doesn't make sense to divert food resources to the fuel industry. Cellulose ethanol, a biofuel made from non edible plants such as grass, has been studied and won't be cost effective until 2012. Sugar Ethanol, which has proven to be more cost effective than corn based ethanol, and is currently being produced in abundance in Brazil, holds some promise. However, tariff restrictions prevent such ethanol to be imported to the United States. Obama's vehement anti free trade stance means that such restrictions would continue under his presidency.

My argument is not that alternative fuels shouldn't be advocated, quite the contrary, I believe that alternative fuels are the only way to create a sustainable energy market in the economy. My argument instead is that there will be a transition period from now for several years, as new technologies emerge and began to replace fossil fuel based technology on the market. Obama's solution may hurry up such plans, but at the cost of placing heavier burdens on the consumer in the short run. Raising taxes on gasoline would trickle down to the consumer, increasing prices at the pump. Such action would create massive price shocks which would have far reaching effects on the short term economy.

For a candidate that believes in subsidizing other goods and services for the American people, such as health care, housing, education, and retirement benefits, it is surprising that his solution isn't to subsidize alternative energies, or repeal taxes on fossil fuels in order to temporarily alleviate the market, but to raise taxes on the one good that affects every American consumer, either directly, at the pump, or indirectly, as energy costs raise costs for every other good, as the goods must be transported.

One may argue that temporarily lowering the price on gasoline by reducing gasoline taxes will destroy the main incentive for fossil fuels. I believe that this argument severely underestimates the strength of a market economy. People aren't stupid. Even if the prices go down in the short term, they will understand that in order to create a long term sustainable energy market, alternative energy must be pursued with more vigor. My argument is merely that Obama's energy plan will have disastrous economic effects in the short term.