Energy Crisis
At the time of our survey, which concluded in September, the most important issue to our respondents was the gas crisis. Since Builder posted the survey, the price of oil has fallen from more than $147 a barrel to less than $95. But gas prices still remain near $4 per gallon, energy prices in general remain high, and building product costs are on the rise. In nearly all aspects of their business, builders rely on oil—from the petroleum required for the manufacture of building products to the cost of gas for commuters to the center city from the suburbs, builder profits are inexorably tied to the cost of crude.
A major part of both candidates’ plans for dealing with the gas and larger energy crises lies in developing our own infrastructure to produce more fossil and alternative fuels, and create new energy and infrastructure jobs. But that’s a long-term strategy. In the near-term, both candidates want to increase America’s domestic oil supply and force prices down at the pump.
Sen. Barack Obama’s plan includes first releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to cut gas prices at the pump immediately. He agrees on the need for more domestic oil and gas production but does not advocate opening up protected areas to drilling. Instead, he proposes that oil companies develop the 68 million acres of land where they hold existing leases but are not currently drilling.
His major focus has been on developing other types of fuel. “It’s time to create a new American energy economy by investing in alternative energy, creating millions of new jobs, increasing fuel efficiency standards, and ending the tyranny of oil once and for all,” Obama told a crowd in Chicago on July 31.
As part of an annual pledge of $1 billion intended to create a new wave of green jobs and green manufacturing, Obama would create educational programs to train workers to weatherize homes for one million low-income families a year.
McCain’s plan in the short-term is to increase the supply of domestically produced oil and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The Arizona Senator proposes to lift the moratorium on drilling along the Outer Continental Shelf to increase oil and natural gas production. He would expand use of natural gas as transportation fuel and use it to produce electricity, and suggests building the infrastructure necessary to transport domestically captured natural gas around the country for such uses.
“Our nation is sending $700 billion over-seas every year to countries that don’t like us very much,” McCain said on Aug. 19. “When I’m president, that’s going to stop. We’re going to achieve energy independence, and we’re going to do it by using every resource at our disposal to get the job done, including new off-shore drilling.”
And to help business owners and spur spending on new products, McCain would offer business tax reform that would permit first-year expensing of new technology and equipment purchases, which could reduce taxable income and interest payments.
RESPONDENTS’ TOP CONCERNS
1. Gas Crisis
2. Lending Standards
3. Immigration
4. Infrastructure Development
5. Health Care
6. Affordable Housing
7. Energy-Efficiency Mandates
8. Foreclosure Relief
9. Mass Transit
10. Green Building