While trying to lock in crucial coal-belt swing states, Obama has had to refute another off-the-cuff comment from his running mate and assure coal-loving swing voters the he is, in fact, their friend. When asked why he supports clean coal, Biden said: “We’re not supporting clean coal.” Except he and his running mate are supporting clean coal. Oops. While Biden was against clean coal during the primaries, the Democratic nominee has included clean coal in his broad energy plan throughout the campaign.

Though McCain hopes this gaffe might distract the coal-belt battle grounds in the next few weeks, looking back at Obama’s record shows him to be a big supporter of some of the more controversial clean-coal technologies. The junior Senator from Illinois introduced the Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007 with Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, and he recruited the Senators of coal-rich Kentucky, West Virginia and Wyoming as sponsors.

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Congress is back in session and already another proposal has come up to renew the vital renewable energy tax credits. But the whole tenor of the energy discussion has changed, as drilling has become the focal point of the debate. Democrats are coming around and could endorse a compromise to open U.S. shores to drilling as soon as Friday. Meanwhile, the presidential election has energized youth voters, who want to make sure clean energy stays a high priority for the next administration.

New Proposal Extends Renewable Credits, Taxes Big Oil: The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), have released a new, $40 billion tax package aimed at extending the renewable energy tax credits. The proposal includes incentives for carbon sequestration, plug-in hybrid vehicles, conservation, wind energy, solar energy, nuclear energy and biofuels and would pay for them with higher taxes on oil and gas companies. The bi-partisan pair have tried repeatedly to get the credits renewed. “I’m starting to feel like Don Quixote, except I’m not jousting at windmills. I’m jousting for windmills,” Baucus told CQPolitics.

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With oil and gas prices dropping, some think energy might become a less pressing issue for the remainder of the campaign. But McCain took time to fly to an oil rig this week to continue pushing for offshore drilling. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took time in a speech to blast the presidential candidates for “pandering” on energy. On the other coast, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger talked sense and agrees with Obama that properly inflated tires could save Americans a lot of oil. Seems like energy is still pretty important.

McCain Stands For and On Offshore Drilling: McCain, standing astride the physical manifestation of his oily energy plan, reiterated his call for more offshore drilling. McCain’s original photo opp atop an oil rig was canceled because Hurricane Dolly was barreling across the ocean at the time. But Tuesday, under sunny skies, McCain told reporters helicoptered out to the rig: “It is time for America to get serious about energy independence, and that means we need to start drilling offshore at advanced oil rigs like this.”

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This week, Democrats are simultaneously edging closer to the middle on domestic oil exploration and trying to coat McCain in Big Oil’s ill-gotten profits. Meanwhile McCain met with one of the biggest former oilmen, T. Boone Pickens. But McCain hasn’t put in the effort to renew the tax credits vital to Pickens’ wind energy plan. Thomas Friedman points out that the Senator has missed every energy tax credit vote this year.

DNC Launches Attack on “Exxon John”: The Democratic National Committee has put out a new ad attacking McCain, charging, in rhyme, that the Senator is on Big Oil’s payroll. The ad parodies a widely ridiculed spot from Senator “Big” John Cornyn (R-Texas) with a similar baritone cowboy narrator who intones: “The future in energy is alternatives they say, but that’s not Exxon John’s way.” California Rep. Hilda L. Solis and California Democratic Party Chairman Sen. Art Torres held a conference call today to promote the video and blasted McCain for his oily connections in preparation for the presidential-hopeful’s scheduled to visit to the Golden State.

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Energy continues to dominate presidential politicking and Obama proposes a $1,000 energy rebate that he says could alleviate the stress of high energy costs. But when fighting energy costs we’ve also got to mind emissions, something that worries some about a potential running mate for Obama — Virginia governor Tim Kaine who’s a well-known coal advocate. Though environmentalists are still rallying around Obama, now paying for ads supporting Obama’s stance on big oil.

Obama Calls for “Emergency” Rebate: Speaking in St. Petersburg, Fla. at a town hall meeting this morning, Obama said his $1,000 energy rebate check needs to happen now. Originally proposed as part of a larger and later tax relief package, Obama said this “emergency” rebate is needed immediately to help consumers battle rising energy prices and a slumping economy. The rebate would be funded by taxes on the windfall profits of oil companies. Obama’s announcement coincides with news that unemployment rates hit a 4-year high last month at 5.7 percent as well as reports of ExxonMobil’s second quarter earnings of $11.68 billion, breaking their own record for biggest three-month profit ever.

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High gas prices are hitting Americans in the pocket book and they seem ready to fight back with their votes. A report from campaign consultants James Carville and Stan Greenberg earlier this month showed that voters care more about reducing gas prices than addressing energy conservation and global warming, a fact that McCain seems to be milking with a new television ad blaming Obama for high prices at the pump. But McCain knows the future is not in fossil fuels, as evidenced by his visit Friday to a GM plant, where he checked out a Chevy Volt. As one campaign watcher over at The Huffington Post notes, the ball is now in Obama’s court when it comes to energy, and he needs to start playing some offense by explaining to voters that nothing either candidate does will immediately lower gas prices.

New McCain Ad Blames Obama for High Gas Prices: The McCain campaign has put out another energy attack ad (embedded below), this time blaming Obama for high gas prices because of his refusal to permit offshore drilling. The ad equates domestic drilling with oil independence and claims that Obama has directly voted against independence from foreign oil. The AP reports the ad will run in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has endorsed McCain for president, said this weekend that he would consider a position as Obama’s energy czar. While Obama has praised the governor for his climate change policies, it’s still a strange bit of news. Meanwhile the president made another push for his offshore agenda Friday, urging Congress to lift the ban on offshore drilling to alleviate high gas costs. Also Obama released new campaign ad attacking this idea last week, saying that such drilling schemes “won’t produce a drop of oil for seven years.”

Schwarzenegger Would Work Either Side of Aisle on Energy: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would consider a position in Obama’s administration working on energy and environment. “I don’t see this as a political thing. I see this as we always have to help, no matter what the administration is,” Schwarzenegger said on “This Week.” He also blasted any last-minute attempts the Bush Administration might make on climate change. “If they would have done something this year, I would have thought it was bogus anyway,” he said.

President Bush Still Pushing for Offshore Drilling: President Bush once again called on Congress to lift the federal moratorium on offshore drilling, this time urging action before the August recess. Critics, however, say that bringing new domestic oil production online would not alleviate the short-term price crunch at the pump as it would take 5-10 years to get the fuel to market. The issue continues to divide Obama and McCain.

Obama Campaign Fights Back: In response to the energy-themed attack ad the Republican National Committee launched last week, the Obama Campaign has launched a counterattack ad across the Midwestern “battleground” states. As oil prices climb ahead of the candidates’ first debate, expect energy to grow as a campaign issue.

Independence Day weekend might be over but the presidential candidates are still debating energy independence. The Republicans have gone on the offensive and launched an attack ad aimed at Obama’s energy plan. However, their candidate McCain seems to have trouble pronouncing the name of his own energy plan. Meanwhile, the idea of offshore drilling is becoming more popular with the public but still divides the candidates.

Republicans Launch Energy Attack Ad: The Republican National Committee put into circulation their first attack ad on Sunday; they’re running it in the projected battlegrounds of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This will likely be the first of many such ads, energy being a defining issue between the two candidates.

McCain Repeatedly Flubs “Lexington Project”: In naming his energy plan the “Lexington Project,” McCain hopes to evoke the idea that we must assert our energy independence in the same manner we fought for our national independence. Problem is, the presumptive Republican nominee has difficultly saying “Lexington Project.” McCain has repeatedly tripped over the name of his own energy plan (check the NYTimes’s strangely Daily Show-esque video), raising doubts about his ability to hold his own against Obama’s famed oratory.

More Americans Make Energy Exploration Top Priority, Poll Says: A new poll from the Pew Research Center says that 47 percent of respondents think energy exploration, drilling and the building of new power plants should be the country’s top priority. This is up from 35 percent just five months ago, when energy prices were much lower. McCain has come out in favor of lifting the federal moratorium on offshore drilling while Obama has called such a tactic a “gimmick” and argued that it won’t provide long-term relief.

The U.S. isn’t taking aggressive enough action — or much action at all — on climate change, according to a report released today by the World Wildlife Fund and German insurer Allianz. In fact the “G8 Climate Scorecards” place the U.S. at the bottom of the Group of Eight on climate action.

Sadly, the U.S. isn’t alone with its poor performance. Even the leaders — Britain, France and Germany — were called out for their slow progress on emissions reductions, despite Kyoto commitments. Regine Guenther, director of the WWF Climate Change Program in Germany, told reporters that the three nations are making about half the cuts to carbon emissions needed to stop global warming.

The rankings, compiled by Dutch consultant Ecofys, are largely unchanged from those released in 2005. Looking more closely, however, the report suggests that the U.S. is poised to move up the list, thanks to state-led initiatives and the upcoming presidential election. “The next administration will likely show much stronger leadership on climate change,” the report authors note optimistically. (Follow our Green Campaign Watch coverage to see if the candidates are up to the challenge.)

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Is McCain the John Kerry of energy? News reports this week are essentially calling him a flip-flopper when it comes to his energy record and policy. The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg say the presidential candidate has had varying stances on offshore oil drilling, clean energy tax incentives, nuclear power and playing favorites with specific clean power technologies.

“The Arizona senator has swerved from one position to another over the years, taking often contradictory stances on the federal government’s role in energy policy.” – Los Angeles Times.

The LA Times article picks through the presidential candidate’s record and points out that McCain has called for both reducing and expanding offshore oil drilling, and has declared there should be no tax breaks for clean energy but backs billions of subsidies for the nuclear biz. McCain has called for 100 new nuclear power plants, 45 of which he wants built by 2030, but the LA Times says McCain voted 5 times in the 90’s against taxpayer aid for research on nuclear reactors, and in 2003 opposed federal loan guarantees for nuclear power.

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