If there is one issue both presidential candidates agree on it is that increasing energy independence is vital to our nation’s national security, economy and environment. However, both candidates have differing views on how America will obtain energy independence in the future.

Sen. Barack Obama’s “New Energy for America” plan includes measures to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and provide short-term relief for families facing “pain at the pump.”

The Democratic nominee also intends to invest $150 billion over the next 10 years toward new alternative energy technology and supports tax breaks and loan guarantees for users of clean energy sources like ethanol and blended fuel E85.

Much like Obama, Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain looks to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, only his calls for expanding domestic oil drilling and natural gas exploration through an initiative he calls the “Lexington Project.” He also intends to transform the nation’s alternative energy technologies through the advancement and use of nuclear power, the development of clean coal technologies and encouraging the market for alternative, low carbon fuels such as wind, hydro and solar power.

Gordon Boyd, president of the energy consulting company EnergyNext in Saratoga Springs, said the way both candidates want to address the current energy crisis is a good investment and it will pay itself back rather quickly.

“America’s dependence on foreign oil sends $700 billion across seas each year,” he said. “If we could spend money here to develop indigenous sources of natural gas, wind energy, off-shore drilling and other domestic sources, we could reduce that $700 billion which would in turn pay dividends to the economy.”

Dr. Pradeep Haldar, professor at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and director of the Energy and Environmental Technology Application Center at the University at Albany, said as a nation we need to address our energy demand situation as it relates to how we’re growing.

“Everything from technology to societal benefits depends on our ability to get the right amount of energy we need on a regular basis,” he said.

Haldar said in terms of energy there are two crises that currently face America. The first relates to the supply of efficient fossil fuels, which he said there is a limited supply of and over a period of time is going to diminish substantially. The second relates to climate change and global warming. Haldar said because of the amount of fossil fuels that we currently burn, the CO2 ends up going into the atmosphere and trapping in heat creating global warming.

“A combination of both of these crises are driving us not only as a nation but as a world, as we try to look for an expanded supply of energy and cleaner forms of it,” he said.

According to Haldar, our world-wide demand for energy today is 12 kilowatts and that number is gong to double over the next few decades so the lingering question is, ‘where do we get all of that energy?’ Haldar believes the answer to this question lies in finding some real sustainable long-term sources and he believes renewable energy has to be looked at as one of those

solutions.

“We do not just need to end our dependence on foreign oil in the long term; we need to end our dependence on oil and fossil fuels period,” he said. “There are all sorts of solutions in the short term that we can pursue from energy efficiency to renewable technologies that includes solar, wind, hydro and biomass.”

In terms of energy consumption here in New York State, Haldar said New Yorkers spent close to $60 billion on energy bills last year alone. Half of New York’s energy is imported from other states or other countries and that is the other major issue, Haldar said.

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said. “We can change our state’s energy problems by generating and using our own forms of energy.”

Boyd also recognizes a need for developing our own forms of energy and he said the way for us to do this is similar to what T. Boone Pickens has proposed in the “Pickens Plan.” If you are not familiar with the plan, it calls for shifting our main source of power generation from natural gas to wind turbines, which would in turn allow us to free up natural gas to fuel trucks, buses and automobiles. Boyd said New York State has a great opportunity to move in that direction because of the shale formation under the state’s southern tier. He said we have a great opportunity to tap into the resource in an environmentally acceptable manner and that it would stop our dependence on sending money out of state and the country

“It is a really a great opportunity and it will allow us to keep developing our renewable electricity sources,” he said.

Like Haldar, Boyd believes that drilling is not a viable option to solving the energy crises. He said while he is not completely opposed to off-shore drilling, he feels either way it is not going to change the basic equation, which is we have three percent of the world’s oil reserves off shore, but we are still importing two thirds of our oil.

Paul Tonko, former head of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and a current candidate for the 21st Congressional District, also feels we need to decrease our dependence on fossil-based fuels and move forward aggressively on alternative energy. He said we can do this by embracing the intellectual capacity we have here in New York and in the country, which could in turn spring board an innovation economy based on energy.

“There are so many things that we have to develop in this country that we are under-utilizing,” he said. “The idea of drilling is a knee-jerk reaction to the lack of a comprehensive plan.”

Tonko, a Democrat, said something we need to start doing is promoting the idea of efficiency in the country as an item or resource just like anything we drill or mine.

“We have tried to solve our problems on the supply side, but we haven’t really exerted the influence of the demand side of the equation,” he said. “Efficiency can achieve great results, and it is really the relationship of supply and demand that drives the cost for consumers. If we were to do this we would be playing in a sound way with the economics of the situation.”

Here in Saratoga Springs the Chamber of Commerce along with EnergyNext created a program 10 years ago that saves its members on their energy bills. The program, termed the Energy Alliance Program, offers members of the chamber better rates on electricity and natural gas, which in turn allows them to purchase renewable energy. He said this past week the city of Saratoga Springs approved a new contract through the program that will allow them to continue to take advantage of the program’s benefits in the future.

“The city and taxpayers are saving money through this program and it has also been very effective for local businesses in saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year collectively on their electric and gas bills,” he said.

After the economy dominated the rhetoric of each campaign in recent weeks, energy resurfaced as a major issue at both the presidential and vice presidential debates last week. And while it is apparent that the economy will remain the most important topic in the weeks leading up to the election, the issue of energy is something that each candidate will have to deal with in order to secure America’s future.