-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sen. John McCain on Monday called for a $ 300 million prize to whoever can develop a battery that will `` leapfrog '' the abilities of current hybrid and electric cars . Sen. John McCain wants someone to develop a battery that can `` leapfrog '' those available in current electric cars . Citing high oil prices , the Republican presidential candidate said he wants his offer to `` deliver a power source at 30 percent of the current costs . '' '' -LSB- The prize would amount to -RSB- $ 1 for every man , woman and child in the U.S. -- a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency , '' McCain said during a town hall-style meeting at California 's Fresno State University . McCain said the new automobile battery should have `` the size , capacity , cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars . '' Watch more on McCain 's $ 300 million reward '' `` In the quest for alternatives to oil , our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure , '' McCain said . `` From now on , we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering , and we will reward the greatest success . '' McCain also called Monday for a `` Clean Car Challenge '' for U.S. automakers , hoping to spur them to develop and sell vehicles with no carbon emissions . The challenge would allow $ 5,000 tax credits to buyers of such cars , making those vehicles more appealing to consumers and thus easier to sell . `` We 're going to see technology for electric-powered cars that are going to be -LSB- made cheaper -RSB- with our incentives , '' McCain said . McCain also spoke against policies that he said `` prevent consumers from benefiting '' from ethanol not made from corn . He cited the U.S. subsidies for corn-based ethanol and tariffs on sugar cane-based ethanol from Brazil . `` Instead of playing favorites , our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline , both lowering gasoline prices and carbon emissions , '' he said . McCain 's remarks came a day after his Democratic rival , Sen. Barack Obama , called for greater oversight for energy traders . Obama 's campaign said many economists believe speculation could be adding between $ 20 and $ 50 to the price of a barrel of oil ; the price per barrel closed near $ 135 on Friday . On Monday , the Illinois Democrat turned to the subject of working women , criticizing McCain for opposing a bill that would have made it easier for people to sue over pay discrimination . Watch Obama court working women '' The bill , dubbed the Fair Pay Restoration Act , would have rolled back a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that a person who claims pay discrimination must file a complaint within 180 days of that discrimination taking place . Senate Republicans blocked the bill , which Obama co-sponsored , in April . Obama , in a speech to women at the Flying Star Cafe in Albuquerque , New Mexico , said McCain `` thinks the Supreme Court got it right . '' `` He opposed the Fair Pay Restoration Act , '' Obama said . `` He suggested that the reason women do n't have equal pay is n't discrimination on the job -- it 's because they need more education and training . That 's just wrong . '' Obama said that in the United States , women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men . Obama claimed that McCain said the Fair Pay Restoration Act would have opened `` us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems . '' `` But I ca n't think of any problem more important than making sure that women are getting a square deal on the job . It 's a matter of equality . It 's a matter of fairness , '' Obama said . `` I 'll continue to stand up for equal pay as president . Sen. McCain wo n't , and that 's a real difference in this election . '' Meanwhile , monthly campaign finance reports filed in June show the candidates are nearly level in the amount of money they have available to spend before their parties ' conventions . According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission , Obama had $ 43.1 million in the bank at the start of June . However , $ 9.8 million of that amount is designated for the general election , meaning only the remaining $ 33.3 million may be spent before the conventions . McCain , according to his report filed with the FEC , began June with about $ 31.4 million available to spend before the conventions . McCain had only $ 123,000 set aside for the general election . However , since indicating he will accept public financing for the general election , he has returned nearly all of the money he has raised for it . Obama said last week he would not accept public financing . Republicans and outside analysts have said Obama found he could raise more money than public financing would allow him to spend . The Democratic convention is scheduled for August 25-28 in Denver , Colorado . The GOP convention is set for September 1-4 in Minneapolis and St. Paul , Minnesota .