Sen. McCain offers $300 million prize for new auto battery

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - John McCain hopes to solve the country's energy crisis with cold hard cash.

The presumed Republican nominee is proposing a $300 million government prize to whoever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology. The bounty would equate to $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, "a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Monday at Fresno State University in California.

McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

The Arizona senator is also proposing stiffer fines for automakers who skirt existing fuel-efficiency standards, as well as incentives to increase use of domestic and foreign alcohol-based fuels such as ethanol.

In addition, a so-called Clean Car Challenge would provide U.S. automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-carbon emissions car they develop and sell.

"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure," said excerpts from McCain's prepared text. "From now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward the greatest success."

The proposal comes as gasoline has reached a record cost of more than $4 a gallon. That has boosted the price of virtually all goods and services, sent commuters flocking to public transportation and increased tensions between the United States and its Middle Eastern oil suppliers.

Last week McCain suggested one way to ease supply concerns would be to lift a federal ban on offshore oil drilling if individual states want to allow it. His Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, opposes that idea, saying it would do nothing to address immediate price concerns.

On Sunday, Obama told a Washington audience he would strengthen government oversight of energy traders whose futures speculation he blames in large part for the skyrocketing price of oil.

In his latest speech, McCain expressed exasperation both with the federal government and the private sector.

He said rising costs during a time of stagnant wages evokes the 1970s era of "stagflation."

Without blaming his fellow Republicans in the Bush administration directly, McCain said: "It feels the same today, because the unwise policies of our government have left America's energy future in the control of others."

The pork-barrel opponent also blasted "a hodgepodge of incentives" for the purchase of fuel-efficient cars.

"Different hybrids and natural-gas cars carry different incentives, ranging from a few hundreds dollars to four grand. They're the handiwork of lobbyists, with all the inconsistency and irrationality that involves," McCain said.

Following the speech, McCain was scheduled to attend fundraisers in Fresno and Santa Barbara, part of a money push that helped the senator raise a personal record of $21 million last month.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_energy [link]

[Phantom]

I like the idea of prizes for innovation. This isn't the solution for everything, but in certain circumstances I think it's a great idea.

I know revenues are down but WTF is with AP, can't they afford a journalist with respectable writing skilz?

[nbiggershaft]

I like it because it rewards innovation without trying to interfere in how that innovation is achieved. Thats how we got ourselves in this ethanol mess. Saying you get x money for solving the problem doesn't pigeon hole us.

[Ardentfrost]

I certainly agree it's a FAR better method than what is the norm. That's why private companies do it all the time.

Duracell puts on an engineering competition for grade schoolers every year to identify great minds young. Even if they don't develop anything worthwhile to humanity for the competition, Duracell offers winners scholarships and MIT generally contacts them for admittance (I won 4th place the year I did it and was still contacted by MIT even though the scholarship prize from Duracell wasn't very much at that level).

[motivez]

What did you make?

And, it's definitely a good idea. But it's nothing new, and really ignores the underlying causes for why our energy prices our high and the fiscal policies of the Bush Administration (which he's set to continue) that got us here in the first place.

[avsp]

As long as the state does welch on the deal like Britain did with Harrison, his clock & longitude.

Originally Posted by motivez

What did you make?

And, it's definitely a good idea. But it's nothing new, and really ignores the underlying causes for why our energy prices our high and the fiscal policies of the Bush Administration (which he's set to continue) that got us here in the first place.

Bush isnt responsible for Asian economic growth, ..., or lack of investment in oil industry worldwide?

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by motivez

What did you make?

It was some paper-fed machine that played music on a glockenspiel. It wasn't very original, but the design was interesting (if nothing else). I don't even remember what song I "programmed" it to play (and by "programmed" I mean punched holes in a piece of mylar).

What I remember most about it is starting the design with wood. But after everything, the wood made it WAY heavy... like, 50+ lbs. I redesigned it using aluminum and Lexan. The Lexan made it cool though, because you could see inside it at all the mechanical workings.

Anyhow, it was good for getting me $2500 which was about five times the cost of the thing. But all materials were donated by local companies anyway.

[motivez]

Originally Posted by avsp

As long as the state does welch on the deal like Britain did with Harrison, his clock & longitude.


Bush isnt responsible for Asian economic growth, ..., or lack of investment in oil industry worldwide?

Obviously the rise in price is due to a combination of factors, but clearly the faltering US Dollar has played a very large role

[avsp]

Originally Posted by motivez

Obviously the rise in price is due to a combination of factors, but clearly the faltering US Dollar has played a very large role

Perhaps the biggest single cause of the devaluing deficit spending has been an effort to increase oil supply by freeing the embargo imposed on Saddam, ..., its a funny old world innit?, ..., road to hell etc

[lew]

How the fuck is this a good idea?


Once again, our tax dollars being spent on this. If McCain wanted to award someone with money from his own bank account, that's fine.


Obama should counter this with a Billion dollar prize and then McCain can counter-offer with 300 Billion. I mean, since it's not their money anyway, the sky's the limit, right?

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by lew

How the fuck is this a good idea?


Once again, our tax dollars being spent on this. If McCain wanted to award someone with money from his own bank account, that's fine.


Obama should counter this with a Billion dollar prize and then McCain can counter-offer with 300 Billion. I mean, since it's not their money anyway, the sky's the limit, right?

But you know they're going to come up with SOME "plan" for the gas price problem. This is way better than taxing the shit out of the oil industries. This might actually achieve the desired effect whereas the other will have the opposite effect.

[Smull]

I think its a nice sentiment and all, but is the prize really necessary? Won't whoever discover this get a hell of a lot more than this in profits from selling their product?

I was (and still kind of am) in favor of a carbon tax so that gas would be less attractive to buyers, but the time for that seems to have passed, it should have been implemented after the oil shocks of the 70s so we could have slowly weened ourselves off oil. But now the price of gas has gotten to the point where Americans will wean themselves. Should they somehow fall a significant amount again I would like to see a small tax so as to encourage us to keep getting away from oil and not just doing when the extremely volatile oil market forces prices up.

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by motivez

What did you make?

And, it's definitely a good idea. But it's nothing new, and really ignores the underlying causes for why our energy prices our high and the fiscal policies of the Bush Administration (which he's set to continue) that got us here in the first place.

Why do you think he's going to continue them? In fact his record on federal spending is downright impressive and would lead one to believe he wouldn't continue this ridiculous spending that washington has become accustomed to the last 8 years.

[WickedLou9]

What s stupid waste of tax payers money. Whoever invents a new batter that lasts longer than say li-ion batteries will no doubt make millions upon millions of dollars by selling thier invention. No further reward needed.

[Knightskye]

Originally Posted by Phantom

I like the idea of prizes for innovation. This isn't the solution for everything, but in certain circumstances I think it's a great idea.

I know revenues are down but WTF is with AP, can't they afford a journalist with respectable writing skilz?

I'm all for rewarding innovation, but I don't think it should come at taxpayer expense. If a company, or a group of companies would like to come together and offer that $300 million prize (or something higher), that would be great. If a non-profit collects donations for such a prize, that would be fine too. I just don't want the government spending my money on something private companies are already working on.