Post by Steve Gardner on Dec 28, 2007 1:36:37 GMT
Looks like the American media is trying to focus the electorate's attention on its preferred candidates.
I've read a lot about Ron Paul and the debating successes he's had against his rival nominees. But the fact that he has some pretty radical ideas, including shaking up the Federal Reserve, means he's all but unelectable.
So, almost certainly, the successful candidate will come from this bunch.
Source: CNN
I've read a lot about Ron Paul and the debating successes he's had against his rival nominees. But the fact that he has some pretty radical ideas, including shaking up the Federal Reserve, means he's all but unelectable.
So, almost certainly, the successful candidate will come from this bunch.
Source: CNN
Where the leading candidates stand on everything from a gas tax to a carbon cap to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
By Steve Hargreaves, with research assistance by Abigail Brigham, Elizabeth Hathway and Shira Kavon
Rudy Giuliani
The former New York City mayor is surprisingly vague about what his energy policy would be as president.
Despite his front-runner status in the Republican field, Giuliani's position on energy issues is the least well-developed: It's not easy to see where he stands on 4 of the 6 questions. Giuliani is the only candidate who hasn't clearly stated his energy policy on his official Web site.
However, a position paper provided to CNNMoney.com by Giuliani's campaign said the candidate supports renewable technologies, biofuel, clean coal, expanding nuclear power and conservation measures. But the paper didn't set any specific targets for energy consumption or renewable funding.
Giuliani supports increased oil drilling. "America must expand environmentally-responsible access to the proven oil and natural gas reserves," the paper stated. But it didn't mention whether he supports additional drilling in U.S. coastal waters or opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Like all the Republican candidates, Giuliani does not support tax increases of any kind, presumably ruling out a gas tax hike.
Mike Huckabee
The up-and-comer's views on energy issues match those of Democrats except that he supports drilling in Alaska.
The former Arkansas governor, who has surged in recent polls, says achieving energy independence would be one of his top priorities.
"We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass," reads a statement on the candidate's Web site.
Huckabee supports proposals in Congress that would boost vehicle gas mileage from 25 miles a gallon to 35 miles a gallon by 2020, require utilities to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable power by 2020 and install a mandatory cap on carbon dioxide emissions, according to the environmental news site Grist.org.
John McCain
John McCain has been a long-time supporter of carbon caps and wants some new drilling in U.S. coastal waters.
McCain has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration for failing to cap carbon emissions, and he has pushed for a mandatory carbon cap as early as 2003.
"Strengthening our energy security goes hand-in-hand with addressing global climate change, which is real with human activity contributing to the buildup of greenhouse gases," the McCain campaign said in an email to CNNMoney.com.
He favors raising fuel efficiency standards, but didn't say by how much. He did not vote for a recent Senate bill that included over $20 billion in new funding for renewables and conservation, paid largely by new taxes on the oil industry. Critics of that bill, including the White House, said it would crimp domestic energy production, raising prices for consumers.
The McCain campaign supports limited new drilling off the U.S. coast, but opposes it in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
Hillary Clinton
The Democratic front-runner favors the broad energy goals set by the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Like the other main Democratic candidates, Clinton wouldn't raise the gas tax and is opposed to drilling in the Arctic but supports carbon caps, conservation and taxing Big Oil.
"A cap-and-trade system [for carbon dioxide] is a better approach [than a gas tax] because it guarantees that we will meet our environmental goals - something that a gasoline tax cannot," Clinton said in an email to CNNMoney.com.
Like all the Democrats, the New York senator supports a mandatory carbon cap that would cut emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. That is the amount scientists say is necessary to avoid widespread flooding and drought.
Clinton also supports an increase in fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030.
Barack Obama
Although generally aligned with other Democrats on the bigger energy issues, Obama highlights urban development patterns in his energy policies.
Like Clinton, Obama plans on investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to promote alternative energy and conservation. He would require the nation's utilities to get 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025, a higher standard than the one recently proposed and rejected in Congress.
Unlike Clinton, Obama's Web site talks extensively of saving energy by reshaping the way the country builds its communities.
"We know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land-use decisions and development patterns, much of which have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline," the candidate said on his Web site.
The Illinois senator, currently second among Democrats in national polls, proposes rewarding towns with federal transportation money for smart development decisions. He also would require states to plan with energy conservation in mind, a policy that is now only encouraged. Obama favors giving employers more tax breaks when they encourage employees to use mass transit, as opposed to current rules in which drivers get twice the benefit.
John Edwards
Edwards is also solidly in the Democrats' energy camp, but he holds some novel ideas of his own.
Edwards has plans that are in line with his party on raising mileage standards, taxing Big Oil, funding renewables and using more green power.
"Our generation must be the one that builds the new energy economy," Edwards said on his Web site. "It is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war."
Edwards highlights the farmer and the contributions rural America can have in combating global warming.
In addition to a big biofuels mandate, he'd allow farmers to sell carbon credits to industry if they mange their land in a climate-friendly way, like by planting more trees or capturing methane emissions from cattle.
He'd also create a "GreenCorps," a kind of domestic PeaceCorps that would enlist young people to weatherize homes, install solar panels and do other energy-related projects.
