Marathon Pundit: Report from this morning's McCain campaign teleconference

This morning, the John McCain campaign held another teleconference--this time on energy. Speaking and taking questions were two campaign senior policy advisers Nancy Pfotenhauer and Doug Holtz-Eakin. Also this morning, I drove past a Marathon gas station in Morton Grove, where regular gasoline is being sold at $4.22 a gallon. That's about a dollar more than that staion was selling fuel last year.

Here's a portion of what Holtz-Eakin said:

(McCain will) commit to using coal, our most abundant natural resource, burning it cleanly and sequestering the carbon. He's committed to building 45 new nuclear power plants in the United States between now and 2030, to provide a stable source of energy for not just those electric vehicles, but for small businesses and households that are going to face higher heating costs. And, over the long term, he's committed to an environmentally respectful policy of cap-and-trade, which will bring the United States into global leadership on the issue of global warming.

"So his policies are ones which recognize the real economic duress that people feel right now, take bold actions to address them right now and for the foreseeable future, relieve us forever of our reliance on imported oil.

"This stands in stark contrast to the path that has been chosen by Barack Obama. Barack Obama has said no to additional oil exploration in the U.S. He has said no to additional natural gas exploration. He has said no more coal-fired power plants. He has said no to nuclear power plants. Barack Obama has a policy that means the United States will not have more energy as it tries to grow and it will simply have to live with higher prices. Barack Obama himself has said higher gasoline prices are fine; they just got there faster than he expected. He has said it would be fine to put new taxes on natural gas and on coal, raising those prices further.

Interesting statement about Obama and coal. The coal industry used to be a major employer in the southern Illinois. During his 2004 Senate run, Obama made repeated promises that he would work to revive downstate Illinois' coal industry.

He's done nothing since other than make hot air promises. Flip. Flop.

And three months ago, Obama had the audacity to attempt to bond with Montana voters by reminding them that their state, like Illinois, is a coal state.

The high cost of energy is a millstone on the economy--John McCain understand that. Obama doesn't, as Nancy Pfotenhauer explained:

The failure of Senator Obama to understand the need to increase domestic (energy) production is just stunning. And that is going to be a big hurdle for him to overcome.