Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan on Monday designed to end US reliance on imported oil within 10 years.  His Republican opponent, John McCain also spent the day addressing the matter of energy dependence

Obama's proposal  includes two significant reversals of past positions:  limited new offshore drilling and  tapping the nation's emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices

Barack Obama, Presumptive Democratic Presidential Candidate said:
"So, if I am president, I will immediately direct the full resources of the federal government and the full energy of the private sector working with state and local governments to achieve a single over-arching goal. In ten years, we will eliminate the need for oil from the entire Middle East and Venezuela, in ten years time

Opponent, John McCain, speaking in Pennsylvania, again advocated more oil drilling off the US coast.

John McCain, Presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate said:
" We need to drill here and we need to drill now. And anybody who says that we can achieve energy independence without using and increasing these existing energy resources either doesn't have the experience to understand the challenge we face or isn't giving the American people some straight talk."

Obama and McCain are emphasizing solutions to the country's energy woes as they seek an advantage in polling that shows the competitive race heating up.

High gas prices are pushing food and transportation costs higher, affecting consumers, while the country's dependence on foreign oil has emerged as a pivotal national security concern, not to mention a key election year issue.

AP