With the rise in gas prices these past few months, there can be no doubt that the issue of energy is pertinent with the American people this election year. A quick perusal of the Republican and Democratic platforms shows them stuffed with ideas about the importance of finding “alternative sources of energy” such as wind, solar and nuclear power. I will pass over this issue for two reasons. First, both parties agree that alternative energy is a good idea. Second, neither party has actually done much about it since the subject was first brought up 40 years ago. Furthermore, the main points of disagreement this year arise from two issues: offshore oil drilling and, strangely enough, tire gauges.

When it comes to the issue of offshore oil drilling, John McCain, like most Republicans, has come out firmly in affirmation.

“We’ve got to drill now and we’ve got to drill here,” he told Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback forum. Democratic protests against this policy are boringly predictable, arguing that offshore oil drilling won’t make a difference and that it would hurt the environment. “Offshore drilling,” writes Time editorialist Michael Grunwald, “would meet about one percent of our [oil] demand.” Assuming this is true, one percent of 20 million barrels per day is a lot of oil, so this is hardly a persuasive argument against drilling. Furthermore, one percent is a lowball estimate.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates there are 85.9 billion barrels worth of oil on the North American continental shelf. We don’t know exactly how much oil is off our shores, of course, because we can’t drill there. Thus the Democratic argument becomes self-defeating; they won’t let us drill until we know the amount of oil is significant, but we won’t know until we drill. As for the environmental issue, I encourage all concerned liberals to take a holiday to Norway, which pumps 1.6 billion barrels of oil a year from offshore drills and still has some of the most pristine coastlines in the world.

In contrast to McCain, Democratic nominee Barack Obama would avoid any confrontation with offshore drilling. Instead, when asked how to deal with the energy crisis, he famously recommended to the American people that they check their tire gauges. It is not so much that keeping one’s tires at the right pressure won’t conserve fuel, but rather the sheer arrogance of the statement itself. As Grunwald and other Obamaphiles make clear in Time, this is just one of several liberal ideas for solving our energy crisis. The others include riding the bus and eating less meat. These solutions will only work if all the American people suddenly make complete reversals on lifelong habits, which we all know won’t happen unless they are forced to make these changes by a President Obama.

Apparently, the kind of government Barack Obama envisions is one that demands much and offers little. He envisions a country where folks are compelled to check tires and eat veggies so that Obama doesn’t need to make hard, awkward decisions about offshore drilling. With what incentive? Threats of fines, I presume.

That would be all well and good if the American people existed for no other purpose than to put a smile on Obama’s movie-star face, but when our nation faces real energy problems we need a leader who is willing to take the hard, but right, course of action. This is only one of the reasons why I’ll be working for John McCain’s election in November, a man who has spent his life serving the American people rather than being served by them.

Reach columnist John Fay at opinion@dailyuw.com.