Obama outlines energy plan

LANSING, Mich., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama included exchanging 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude in his New Energy plan.

Speaking before an audience at Michigan State University in Lansing, Mich., the likely Democratic presidential candidate repeated his proposal of providing families a $1,000 energy rebate paid for by a windfall tax on profits made by oil companies. He also stressed investing in technology that "can help us recover more from existing oil fields, speed up the process of recovering oil and gas resources from shale formations in Montana and North Dakota, in Texas and Arkansas, and in parts of the west and central Gulf of Mexico."

He also proposed leasing more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production over the next five years. His plan includes a proposal to tap into natural gas reserves "and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process," Obama said.

The proposals Obama discussed included:

-- Providing short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump

-- Helping create 5 million new jobs by investing $150 billion in the private sector during the next 10 years to build a clean energy future.

-- Putting 1 million plug-in hybrid cars in the road by 2015.

-- Ensuring 10 percent of the nation's electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, increasing to 25 percent by 2025.

-- Implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.