The final presidential debate of the 2008 Election took place last night in Hempstead, N.Y. The domestic-policy-themed debate was maybe the most interesting of the three, since they’ve all been surprisingly dull.

What might have been ever more surprising was the fact that out of the 90 minute debate, less than 10 minutes was spent on energy policy. Granted we are in an economic crisis and that should take up most of the debate questioning, but during the debate Obama said that energy independence, “is the most important issue that our future economy is going to face.”

If that’s true, maybe it should have been discussed a little more.

Even during the scanty 10 minutes on energy policy, the candidates were sidetracked by each others’ positions on NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Both agreed it could take a minimum of 7 to 10 years before America would be free from the use of foreign oil, and that domestic oil production should be increased.

Most of the time McCain actually spent discussing energy policy was specific to increasing the number of nuclear power plants in America; Obama’s focus was on more domestically made fuel-efficient cars.

Bottom-line, neither went into enough depth on America’s energy policy problems and their solutions.

If case you missed the debate, it can be viewed in its entirety on The New York Times Web site or C-SPAN’s Web site.

This week the U.S. presidential candidates have had a lot to say about energy. Barack Obama released his official energy plan on Monday. John McCain released many of the details of his position on energy back in June.

Both candidates are voicing strong support for improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing more renewable energy and moving toward energy independence. But the energy issues they’re focusing on and the details of their plans are very different. For instance, McCain is putting much more emphasis on developing nuclear energy, while Obama has set much higher goals for developing electricity from renewable sources.

If you’d like to read more about their plans, CNN has a good summary of the two candidates' positions on energy here.

You can also read the details of the plans on the candidates’ Web sites. You can find more about McCain’s energy plan at www.johnmccain.com, and Obama’s at www.barackobama.com.

Does your favorite Presidential candidate support the use of nuclear power? What about biofuels? Do you know what he or she is saying about renewable energy?

Grist always has great political coverage, and right now they've got a fantastic collection of information on the 2008 elections. I've been trying to follow their interviews with the candidates on environmental issues, but it's also nice to be able to see all of that information at a glance so you can compare candidates.

That's why I was excited to see that Grist has condensed all of the candidates' positions on energy issues into one simple, easy to read chart. Hurrah! If, on the other hand, you'd like more in-depth information, you can find much more of their election coverage here.