With all of the political ho-humming going around (is that a real phrase!?), it can sometimes be hard to determine what the plans of various presidential candidates precisely entail.

Because I’m an Obama fan, I’m going to be going over a small chunk of Obama’s energy policy. But I do want to make the point that on John McCain’s website, his energy policy is defined by six primary goals: expand domestic oil, break dependency on foreign oil, invest in alternative sources of energy, protect our environment, promote energy efficiency, and address speculative pricing of oil. Very oily goals; I feel like we need to get him some Neutrogena!

Barack Obama’s plan, however, entails providing relief to American families facing pain at the pump. Additionally, he plans to create five million new jobs by investing in a clean energy future, work on saving oil so that there will be more oil in reservations than the amount we currently import from the Middle East, put one million cars on the road that can get up to 150 miles per gallon (in the next seven years!), ensure 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Yes, let me spell that out for you. Eighty percent.

Obama recently suggested a tiny way that Americans could help with energy costs: be sure that your tires are inflated! Sounds simply effective enough, huh? John McCain didn’t think so, and immediately attacked that suggestion.

“Unfortunately, Senator Obama continues to oppose offshore drilling. He continues to oppose the use of nuclear power. These misguided policies would result in higher energy costs to American families and businesses and increase dependence on foreign oil. We’re not gonna achieve energy independence by inflating our tires.”

That may not seem like anything at first, until you see what NASCAR had to say about tire pressure: “[…] the time is now for drivers to focus on simple things like proper tire pressure to maximize tire performance and increase fuel economy.”

But wait, there’s more!

The U.S. Department of Energy issued a statement saying, “Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.”

That’s right; the United States’ very own Department of Energy agrees with Barack Obama.
Also according to the Department of Energy, keeping your tires properly inflated can save you up to 12 cents per gallon. Compare that, Senator McCain, to immediate savings from your coastal and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling plan: instead of an immediate savings of 12 cents per gallon, you would only get half of that with your plan.

Stop lyin’ and keep tryin’, gramps.