LANSING -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama put the energy debate into high gear Monday with a forceful pitch to wean the United States from foreign oil and help auto companies produce fuel-efficient vehicles, while he labeled Republican opponent John McCain a cozy friend of oil company profits.
With Michigan emerging as a true battleground state -- and McCain gaining support with his call for more offshore drilling -- Obama pledged direct financial support for Michigan's bedrock auto industry and urged changes in the way the country creates and consumes energy.
He called for $4 billion in guaranteed loans and tax credits to help U.S. automakers retool for more fuel-efficient cars and to develop batteries for plug-in hybrids that get up to 150 m.p.g. The new breed of automobiles would fetch a $7,000 federal tax credit for buyers.
He predicted that 1 million plug-in hybrids -- such as the Chevrolet Volt set to debut in 2010 -- would be produced within six years. In March, Morgan Stanley estimated that U.S. plug-in hybrid sales would not top 1 million annually before 2020.
Obama said the auto industry would benefit from his $150-billion, 10-year plan to develop alternative energy sources, including fuel cells to power vehicles.
"I know how much the auto industry and the autoworkers of this state have struggled over the last decade or so," Obama told about 1,000 supporters at the Lansing Center who sang him "Happy Birthday" on his 47th. "But I also know where I want the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow to be built -- not in Japan, not in China, but right here in the United States of America. Right here in the state of Michigan."
Obama also called again for an immediate $1,000 "energy rebate" to U.S. families, paid for with higher taxes on oil company profits.
Obama's speech offered little new, repackaging his ideas to seize the offensive on the energy issue, which has become dominant in the face of $4-a-gallon gas and dismal domestic auto sales. McCain is scheduled to tour DTE Energy's Fermi II nuclear power plant near Monroe today to show his support for the development of nuclear energy.
Obama labeled McCain a political captive of oil companies and said he has done nothing during his 26 years in Congress to reduce U.S. oil dependency.
Obama said oil company executives donated $1 million to McCain's campaign this year, and that McCain supports $4 billion in tax breaks for those companies.
McCain's campaign rebutted Obama's attack, saying Obama's campaign has taken nearly $400,000 from oil company employees and executives, and that McCain's tax cut would apply to all corporations, not just oil companies.
David Newbury, 39, of Lansing, who attended Obama's event Monday, said he supports higher taxes on oil companies.
"It seems like the oil companies are price-fixing to avoid national competition, and they shouldn't," he said. "We should tax them a little bit."
But John Lee, 40, of DeWitt, who hadn't made up his mind in the presidential race, opposes a windfall oil profits tax because he said it makes scapegoats out of large companies and will not solve the nation's energy issues.
McCain strongly supports expanded offshore drilling in the United States and more nuclear power plants. That has gained him more voter support, according to recent polls.
On Monday, McCain supporters handed out free tire pressure gauges to the Obama crowd at the Lansing Center, mocking Obama's comments that Americans can reduce gas consumption by keeping their car tires properly inflated.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis said Obama's insistence on higher mandated fuel mileage standards would cost the auto industry more jobs.
"That shows how out of touch he is with Michigan voters," Anuzis told reporters. "He's pandering to San Francisco liberals and environmentalists who would just as soon we not have cars."
Anuzis said that whereas Obama opposes offshore drilling and nuclear power, McCain offers a balanced approach that includes growth of all energy sources.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a regular critic of higher mandated fuel standards, was at Monday's event and defended Obama, saying demand for high-mileage cars is driving up fuel efficiency without government intervention.
"The market will spur the drive to more fuel-efficient cars," said Levin, who called Obama's speech inspired.
Obama appeared Monday to reject offshore drilling, which he said would not produce more oil for another seven years. In the past week, he appeared to soften his no-drill stance in return for a more aggressive strategy to develop alternative energy.
He said oil companies should first drill in the 68 million U.S. acres they lease but have not yet developed.
He also proposed selling 70 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve, which he said could cut oil prices quickly but for a short period.
Obama promised to convert 10% of U.S. energy use to renewable sources by the end of his first term as president, and cited Michigan State University's research into wind power and solar cells.
He said the country should use 15% less electricity within 10 years.
To achieve those goals will require sacrifice by U.S. consumers, Obama said, but eventually his changes would save the equivalent of all the oil the U.S. now imports from the Middle East and Venezuela.
Obama said energy needs, global warming and the need to keep U.S. auto manufacturing have converged to create the most pressing issue facing the nation.
He compared his call for revamping the way we consume energy to the United States retooling its manufacturing economy for World War II and the U.S. effort to land a man on the moon.
"This is the opportunity we must seize, and it may be our last opportunity to seize it," he said.
Contact CHRIS CHRISTOFF at 517-372-8660 or christoff at freepress.com. Staff writer Justin Hyde contributed to this report.
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