I will vote for McCain, but overall I have not been too thrilled about either candidate. However, as an engineer, I found this quote encouraging and welcome such radical changes in approach.

McCain calls for $300 million prize for better car battery

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/23/campaign.wrap/index.html

Quote :

"[The prize would amount to] $1 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. -- a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency."

Quote :

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

Almost hearkens back to the space program of the 1960s. I'm convinced that that is the kind of effort that will be required to address the future of energy.

6/23/2008 9:49:16 PM

Quote :

"[The prize would amount to] $1 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. -- a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency."

It's more than $1 to pay. You've also got to buy the damn thing from companies that will probably charge thousands of dollars for each battery.

Hell, I know if I invented that battery i'd get a patent for it and get much more than $3 million in royalties from DieHard or Interstate.

6/23/2008 9:54:36 PM

$300 million is a tiny fraction of what a meager 5% tax on companies making more than a billion $ could recoup for alternative energy research.

6/23/2008 9:57:17 PM

yep. but that would discourage innovation and punish success. Seems counter-productive, if you ask me.

of course, $300 million dollar bux is also a meager percentage of the budget for all of our unConstitutional entitlement programs, too.

6/23/2008 9:58:10 PM

Taxes for those industries were MUCH, MUCH higher in the space race era, and neither innovation nor success were rare things. In fact, those were some of the most innovative times of our country.

Plus, there's is not a lot you can't do with 950,000,000 that you can do with 1000,000,000.

6/23/2008 10:06:20 PM

The best part is, if no one manages to produce the battery then the government doesn't have to pay!

But, the question remains, how do you term the promise to make sure you don't pay for a dead-end technology while at the same time making the project seem feasible enough that people will go after it.

6/23/2008 10:23:13 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't marko have a collection of every presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter making this exact same claim?

6/23/2008 10:32:40 PM

Quote :

"But, the question remains, how do you term the promise to make sure you don't pay for a dead-end technology while at the same time making the project seem feasible enough that people will go after it. "

I was wondering the same thing, but it's likely this is just meaningless political pandering.

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 10:36 PM. Reason : ]

6/23/2008 10:35:53 PM

^^

aha not that i recall

could have been me from 2000-2004 though

6/23/2008 10:38:51 PM

The government has a horrible track record picking winners with its subsidies. This approach seems to be the most efficient way around that. Given we do not know what new technology awaits around the corner, it makes much more sense to reward the ends and not the means.

6/24/2008 7:17:43 AM

I don't think it's a bad idea, but isn't there already plenty of incentive to improve battery technology?

6/24/2008 7:58:33 AM