How Barack Can Get on Track

After being bloodied by Hillary Clinton in Ohio and Texas, Barack Obama has a unique opportunity to stage a comeback of his own: run as the first energy president.

During the seven weeks between now and the critical Pennsylvania primary, Mr. Obama should kick off a series of policy speeches with a discussion of alternative energy and foreign oil. Making energy a centerpiece of his campaign would allow Obama to segue into a host of big-ticket items such as jobs, the economy, inner-city youth, anti-terrorism, and bipartisanship.

Mr. Obama has already paved the way for such a move. He gave a speech in Detroit on energy, and his website contains a detailed energy plan.

Energy independence has been kicked around both sides of the aisle for at least 30 years. In a January 5, 2007 New York Times column, Thomas Friedman noted that Gerald Ford, a Republican, was the first president who attempted to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Ford created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and imposed a $3-a-barrel fee on imported oil to spur conservation. The latter was a huge levy since oil was only $10.76 a barrel back then, according to Mr. Friedman.

Mr. Friedman's column is available at http://select.nytimes.com/2007/01/05/opinion/05friedman.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=friedman%2C+energy+independence&st=nyt&oref=slogin.

Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, also spoke about energy independence. And during the current campaign, Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee talked it up.

Huckabee advocated energy independence within ten years; McCain said we could do it in five.

In his 2007 State of the Union speech, President Bush called for an end to "our addiction to foreign oil." But nobody has actually tried achieving this goal. If Obama truly wants to be the "change" candidate, he should hammer this topic for at least the next seven weeks.

Mr. Obama's website calls for a 35 percent reduction in dependence on foreign oil and an identical decrease in oil consumption by 2030. It also pitches an 80 percent reduction in 1990 levels of carbon emissions by 2050.

These are laudable goals, but the time frame needs to be shorter. The average voter is not a long-term thinker. Tell us what we can do within the next ten years, even if the numbers are more modest. By seizing on this topic, Obama can restore the Kennedyesque luster to his campaign.

In 1961, JFK called for landing a man on the moon within the decade. NASA made it with time to spare. Throw down a similar gauntlet for alternative energy. Yes we can.

Mr. Obama's plan calls for subsidies to low income people to help them pay for increased energy costs and make their homes more energy efficient. It also calls for a job training and transition program for disadvantaged youth to be paid out of funds generated from a carbon "cap and trade" system. The Obama plan foresees the creation of millions of "green" jobs as we develop a more robust solar, wind, and biofuels economy.

Mr. Obama has also proposed developing a digitized "smart" electric power grid that would reduce vulnerability to terrorism by allowing citizens to produce homegrown alternative energy and decrease consumption during peak hours.

The Obama Energy Plan can be found at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/.

Obama has something of a track record here. He cosponsored the first Federal Renewable Fuel Standard and was a major proponent of a 30 percent tax credit for E85 fuel providers. Obama also worked with Indiana Republican Senator Dick Lugar to strengthen safeguards against the smuggling of nuclear material. He, therefore, can speak with some authority.

The candidate best equipped for bipartisanship at home will be the better diplomat abroad. While Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both shown an ability to reach across the aisle, Obama is more temperamentally suited for this work.

Hillary isn't happy unless she's in a knife fight. She has constantly referred to herself as a fighter, but can she make peace? Maybe, but it goes against her instincts. Obama, on the other hand, is a natural. Let him bring back Henry Kissinger, or even Jimmy Carter, a president who actually produced results in the Middle East peace process.

Listen, Barack. When Bill Clinton says you'd make a good Vice President in a Hillary Administration, tell him that he'd make a good roving ambassador in the Obama Administration. Show him that you can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

Emphasizing energy would also give Obama the opportunity to put some beef in his soufflé. He doesn't have to drown us in details, but he has to be specific enough.

Some of this policy needs to be rethought. Experts have cast doubt on the ability of carbon credits to reduce greenhouse gases. The road to energy independence--or even a significant reduction in dependence--will be bumpy in a global economy. But, in the long run, the effort is worth it. And the inspirational Obama might just be able to pull it off.