The Heat is On 
And it's not all from global warming. The Presidental candidates are as diverse and opinionated as ever.
The Democrats Joe Biden Joe Biden’s beef with our nation’s current energy plan is that most of the oil that the United States is using comes from unreliable sources. For this reason Biden supports a domestic energy policy at the core of his environmental platform. He believes that so long as we are financially supporting the nations that provide our oil, our potential opposition to their policies is meaningless. So his plan would be to increase U.S. investments in renewable energy sources such as ethanol and biodiesel so that we can reduce our oil consumption and, he believes, increase national security. Other Green Issues Clean air. Biden is in favor of enforcing the often-overlooked Clean Air Act by punishing polluters and encouraging corporations to take responsibility for their own waste. Hilary Clinton Hillary Clinton has served on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works as well as the Fisheries, Wildlife, Other Green Issues Clean air. Clinton believes in the link between poor air quality and poor health and has been a champion of clean air and in support of the Environmental Protection Agency. Another pet project is pursuing the links between air pollution and asthma in youths as well as between air pollution and breast cancer. John Edwards Like many of the candidates, John Edwards’s plans call for creating a new energy economy based on innovation in renewable energy sources. His solution is the New Energy Economy Fund, which would be financed by polluters and would pay to research and develop renewable energy technologies and to encourage Americans to buy more energy-efficient products. It would also create 1 million new jobs and heighten the demand for family farming by supporting the increased need for biodiesel and corn products. This would result in 25 percent of the nation’s electricity coming from renewable resources by 2025; in turn, the United States would produce 2 billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide emissions. With the creation of these new jobs comes the need for new skilled workers. Edwards’s Green Collar job-training initiative would help new workers gain the skills necessary to see his energy conservation initiative succeed. His plan would connect more than 150,000 workers with the skills they need to stay gainfully employed in the field of renewable energy. “We can turn the crisis of climate change into an opportunity for a new energy economy right here in America,” Edwards proclaims on his website. In the spirit of the issue, Edwards has declared that his campaign is carbon-neutral. Other Green Issues Barack Obama As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Barack Obama works as part of a team that ensures the proper balance between environmental policy and a sustainable economy. Using this experience Obama would introduce a national low-carbon fuel standard to reduce the carbon in our fuel supply by 5 percent by 2015 and 10 percent by 2020. To carry out this plan, significant resources would be invested into the research and development of renewable, agricultural fuel sources such as ethanol, corn, and biodiesel. Obama’s plan, if successful, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to the rough equivalent of taking a whopping 30 million cars off the road. Obama also introduced the Healthcare for Hybrids legislation, a sort of swapping of resources that assists automakers in funding employee health insurance in exchange for their investing the net savings back into fuel-efficient technologies. Other Green Issues Bill Richardson Bill Richardson has established himself as a champion of the environment thanks to the work he has done for his home state of New Mexico. If elected, Richardson says, he would reauthorize and revamp the often-forgotten Clean Air Act to include a focus on ways to help identify violations by industrial facilities. His plan would add air-quality protection from old power plants and incentive programs to encourage the widespread use of cleaner fuels. “I strongly oppose the Bush administration’s policies allowing old coal plants to renovate without upgrading pollution control,” Richardson declares on his website. Because he believes that the public has a right to breathe clean air and to know when the air around them is toxic, Richardson’s goals also include reversing the Environmental Protection Agency’s current position on reporting—to increase standards for polluters so that they have to report their status at least once a year. Other Green Issues Roads in national forests. In general, Richardson opposes the building of new roads in national forests although he has claimed, “Under certain circumstances, the lumber industry can and should thin and harvest trees in roaded areas near communities so long as they also clear the undergrowth that feeds wildfires.” The Republicans
“We must decrease America’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil. We can meet this challenge through diversification of our energy portfolio, innovation, and conservation. America must lead the Other Green Issues John McCain “Senator John McCain admires the conservationist tradition of Theodore Roosevelt and has a strong record of protecting national parks and expanding open spaces,” says McCain spokesperson Brooke Buchanan. McCain believes that the lives of American citizens depend on the protection of our resources and therefore has strong commitments to clean air and water and the preservation of open space for sustainability. He has expressed his belief that our National Park System is currently underfunded and has called for new investment in that area. McCain advocates that executive orders shouldn’t mandate its protection, however. He feels that it’s up to local governments to take charge. This is, in fact, the reason he gives for why his record indicates voting to repeal a ban previously placed on roads in wilderness areas. He is quoted in the New York Times as saying, “The idea that Washington knows best and that local residents cannot be trusted to do what’s right in their own backyard is the epitome of federal arrogance.” Other Green Issues Mitt Romney Mitt Romney believes that putting research into alternative energy sources is essential to achieving energy independence. He would fund research allowing for innovative technologies in the field of clean coal. He is a supporter of nuclear energy as well as of the idea of setting up an international fuel bank to monitor the safe and secure use of nuclear energy. Because of Romney’s desire that the United States be self-sufficient, he supports drilling in ANWR and the outer coastal shelf. Other Green Issues Water. Romney has a history of protecting ocean waters with strict ocean zoning regulations. He put together an Oceans Management Task Force in his home state to ensure control of both offshore development and ocean protection. He believes that the coast is a vital source of both economy and culture for our nation. Fred Thompson Fred Thompson is considered by some to be one of the few true conservatives left, and his campaign views reflect that. His take on climate change is the belief that many planets are warming and therefore “global warming” can actually be more appropriately considered “solar system warming.” Therefore he does not feel that the habits of society (such as driving fuel-inefficient cars and using air conditioning) are to blame for the warming of the Earth. “Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever . . . . NASA says the Martian South Pole’s ‘ice cap’ has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from Earth. If so, I guess Jupiter’s caught the same cold because it’s warming up too, like Pluto. This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle,” Thompson said in an ABC interview. Other Green Issues Environmental regulation and red tape. Thompson has co-sponsored numerous bills such as the Regulatory Right to Know Act that would have made environmental protection often too costly or time consuming for agencies to successfully accomplish. The result of these increased hurdles would be more government regulation and less-effective environmental and health protection. The Party's Just Starting To find out more about where the candidates stand on the issues that matter most to you, check out the following websites. www.ontheissues.org—A comprehensive breakdown of all candidates on every topic, along with voting records dating back their entire careers www.2008insider.org—A blog-style website with postings of recent activity on the campaign trail as well as discussion boards and a chance to leave comments www.pollingreport.com—To check out the most recent frontrunners and see where your favorite candidates currently rank www.opensecrets.org—A close look at how much funding the candidates have received as well as what industries or individuals are funding them |
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