Topics in the News: Energy
Fred Thompson on Budget & Economy
: Dec 12, 2007
Deficit spending ok for military, infrastructure, and R&D
Q: Are there programs so important you'd be willing to run a deficit to pay for them?A: Yes, the military, the security of our people, first and foremost, always; our infrastructure, which is coming apart; and research and development, which is going
to help us solve some of the problems in the future as far as energy and a lot of other issues. But [we need to concentrate on reforming] our entitlement programs; by 2040 or so we're going to eat up our entire budget.
Click for Fred Thompson on other issues.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate
Bill Richardson on Budget & Economy
: Sep 6, 2007
Constitutionally require balanced budget & fiscal discipline
I am the only candidate here that has said, I'm for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. You have to have fiscal discipline. You've got to also grow the economy. You have to have universal pensions. If we balance the budget, restore our
fiscal house, there will be economic growth. If we invest in education and have a stronger workforce, if we incentivize and have a pro-growth economy, where we say we're going to make America green, renewable energy, we're going to bring new jobs.
Click for Bill Richardson on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth College
Hillary Clinton on Environment
: Aug 8, 2007
Support green-collar job training
Q: What policies would you implement to make businesses invest in energy-efficient technologies?A: I have supported a green building fund and green-collar job training with the
AFL-CIO that will put a lot of people too work. And it's important that we do this, because we can create millions of new jobs.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum
Chris Dodd on Environment
: Jun 3, 2007
Support a carbon tax and a 50-miles-per-gallon CAFE standard
We have the responsibility of reducing the polluting effects of depending upon fossil fuels and also allowing us to develop the alternative technologies. I've introduced a plan here that would require, by the year 2017, 50-miles-per-gallon standard for
automobiles. We ought to do it immediately and a carbon tax, and encourage then for the use of revenues collected to move aggressively on developing the alternative technologies of solar and wind and other sources of energy.
Click for Chris Dodd on other issues.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College
Chris Dodd on Environment
: Jun 3, 2007
Spend oil profits on research of alternative energy sources
When the price of a barrel of oil gets beyond $40 a barrel, where there's plenty of profit, those dollars ought to be returned to the consumers in a rebate or plowed back into the research that would allow us to develop alternative technologies. But the
real way to get away from this here, our dependency on that kind of fuel is causing us serious problems across the board. So it isn't just a price-of-fuel issue here. It's also depending upon polluting technologies that are going to cost us so much.
Click for Chris Dodd on other issues.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College
Bill Richardson on Environment
: Jun 3, 2007
Require renewable technologies and ask for conservation
I was Energy secretary; in my state, we call it the Clean Energy State. We have incentives for solar, wind, biomass, biofuels. We require renewable technologies -- 20 percent of our electricity. What would help in the short term -- give the states the
authority to engage in serious price-gouging investigation. We need an Apollo program led by a president asking every American to sacrifice, to conserve, that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which is 65 percent imported, to 10.
Click for Bill Richardson on other issues.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College
Joe Biden on Budget & Economy
: Apr 29, 2007
Invest in new programs by ending war & eliminating tax cuts
Q: On your website you say about programs for energy research, health insurance, tuition deductions--all noble goals for Democrats, but it's more money, more money. Where you going to get it?- A: First of all, we're going to end this war. It's
$100 billion a year we're spending.
- Eliminate the tax cuts for people making over a million bucks --that's $85 billion a year.
- Eliminate the tax break for investment on dividends--$195 billion.
We have a fancy word--a new "paradigm" [about
crime, health, and energy]: Investment in these areas saves money. But you need start-up dollars. I'd start off with $220 billion a year by the tax cuts and ending the war. Q: But, senator, we have a deficit. We have Social Security and Medicare
looming.
A: The answer is you have to put it all on the table. We put Social Security on the right path for 60 years. Social Security's not the hard one to solve. Medicare, that is the gorilla in the room, and you've got to put all of it on the table.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Meet the Press: 2007 "Meet the Candidates" series
Mitt Romney on Environment
: Aug 25, 2004
Lit mountain with Olympic rings while placating enviro's
We decided to put rings on the side of a mountain. Together the rings were the size of 10 football fields, with 1000s of high output, low energy bulbs, strung on three parallel electric cables. Then came the flack from environmental activists.
They charged the installation would damage ground cover. I described our precautions: the whole program had been environmentally engineered to protect the land. We agreed to re-grade the dirt road. We also agreed to plant seed when we were through.
We agreed to pay $25,000 to the Nature Conservancy endowment. The environmental groups still said no. If it were not for the courage of the Mayor standing up to some constituents, we might not have prevailed. That and the generosity of Utah Power.
They bought 1000s of bulbs and their own workers installed it.
The rings were a signature of the overall look of the Games. We even had requests from the community that we illuminate the rings in the morning so commuters could enjoy the Olympic spirit.
Click for Mitt Romney on other issues.
Source: Turnaround, by Mitt Romney, p.221-222
John Edwards on Environment
: Mar 3, 2004
Protect ANWR, lead in global warming battle
Unlike President Bush, I support strong environmental protection, higher CAFE standards, protection of ANWR, and American leadership in the world's battle against global warming.
Click for John Edwards on other issues.
Source: 2004 Presidential National Political Awareness Test
Dennis Kucinich on Budget & Economy
: Jan 11, 2004
WPA-type program will create jobs and rebuild America
Q: Do you agree that the economy is recovering? A: The truth of the matter is that we should have a full-employment economy. With the government, the employer of last resort, there ought to be jobs, enough jobs for all who want to work.
And as president, I will create a full-employment economy by sponsoring a WPA-type program, which will rebuild America's cities and rural communities, new bridges, water systems, sewer systems, new energy systems, put millions of people back to work.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum
Dennis Kucinich on Environment
: Aug 29, 2002
Market-based system has no place in water distribution
Market economics need to be transformed so as to work in harmony with basic human needs for clean air and clean water. market-based systems which inevitably exclude the poor have no place in the distribution of water.
Water is a human right which must stand above market economics and privatization, just as many are learning of the risks of health care and energy left to the market.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: Speech at UN World Summit, in Prayer for America, p. 40
Al Gore on Environment
: Oct 11, 2000
Incentives for technology; but no voluntary regulations
GORE [to Bush]: He’s right that I’m not in favor of energy taxes. I am in favor of tax cuts to encourage and give incentives for the quicker development of these new kinds of technologies and let me say again, Detroit is raring to go on that. We differ
on whether or not pollution controls ought to be voluntary. I don’t think you can get results that way. BUSH: I don’t believe in command and control out of Washington, D.C. I believe Washington ought to set standards, but we ought to be collaborative
at the local levels.
Q: Would the federal government still have some new regulations to pass?
BUSH: Sure, absolutely, so long as they’re based upon science and they’re reasonable, so long as people have input.
GORE: I’m not for command and
control techniques either. I’m for working with the groups, not just with industry but also with the citizens groups and local communities to control sprawl in ways that the local communities themselves come up with.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Presidential Debate at Wake Forest University
Al Gore on Environment
: Aug 19, 2000
Invest in clean water, air, & land in “Environmental Decade”
Gore has called for making the next 10 years the Environment Decade, which would include initiatives to: protect forests, rivers and public lands so that families have places where they can hike, climb and experience nature firsthand; ensure that
the nation’s air and water is cleaned up; encourage smarter growth and more livable communities; invest more in conservation, renewable energy and in technologies that combat pollution and global warming.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Press Release, Focus on Environment
Al Gore on Environment
: Jul 24, 2000
Trust Fund for the Environment to foster protection & growth
Gore has called for making the next ten years the Environment Decade, an initiative that includes six broad goals: - Dedicating part of the expected budget surplus to create a new National Energy Security and Environment Trust Fund;
- Protecting forests, rivers and public lands so that families have places where they can hike and climb, and experience nature first hand;
- Ensuring that the nation’s air and water are cleaned up;
- Encouraging smarter growth and more livable communities so every community can grow according to its own values, in a way that preserves its own precious character;
- Investing more in conservation,
renewable energy and in fast-growing technologies that combat pollution; and
- Taking steps - not just in this country, but everywhere in the world - to reverse the rise in global warming.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Press Release, “Sierra Club Endorses Gore”