I disagree, and that may be because I live here in the U.S. and have heard more of what he has to say.

In an interview during the summer with the late Tim Russert on Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked whether Barak Obama would release oil from the strategic oil reserve to lower fuel prices. What Barak Obama said is no, because "what do we do when gasoline prices are $8 per gallon." This suggests that he does understand the near future oil supply issue.

He has made reference to addressing climate change many times, so what I expect he will do is promote a policy that will address energy supply and climate change simulaneously.

He is also advocates conservation by speeding up the tightening of CAFE standards beyond what the Department of Transporation has proposed, which was published in a proposed rulemaking to increase CAFE standards to fulfill a requirement in a recent energy bill. I believe that Barak Obama has advocated that he would speed up the tightening of the CAFE standards to that proposed by the State of California, which would be roughly twice as fast as that proposed by the Department of Transporation.

One further note. One reason why none of this has happened before is that there has been gridlock in Washington DC. What Barak Obama proposes to do is take his proposed programs directly to the American people so that they convince their lawmakers to take the action that he advocates.

Retsel