A Greener President?
Today is Super Tuesday, and I’m watching the results eagerly. (I’m a Clinton supporter.) I’ll be disappointed if we have another Republican president next year, but one thing’s for certain: The next president will be a lot greener than Bush. Every single candidate seems to agree on one thing: We need to achieve energy independence.
We can pretty much assume the Democrats will be doing something for the environment and our energy problems, but what about the Republicans? McCain is a Republican environmentalist (which sounds like an oxymoron, I know), but even his more socially-conservative competitors have platforms that include energy independence.
Out of the three, Huckabee (surprisingly) seems to have the best things to say on the subject:
Energy independence has been on our “to do” list for over thirty years, my whole adult life. In 1973, in response to OPEC’s oil embargo against us, President Nixon established Project Independence, which promised independence in 1980. We could have been energy independent a generation ago! The truth is, we are so pathetically behind the curve right now that federal spending for energy research and development is only 40% of what it was in 1979. Our efforts are haphazard and often pointless: today we have six million flex-fuel vehicles built to run on biodiesel or on E85, which is 85% ethanol, but only 1,413 pumps for those fuels in a country with 170,000 gas stations.
When energy shocks and crises come, we take aspirin to deal with the pain, but we don’t address the underlying symptoms. This oil addiction is killing us. We have to stop popping pain pills and get ourselves cured. For all these years, we’ve never lacked the means, just the will. We’ve never harnessed the real energy source that independence requires – the energy of the American people.
…
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. Some will come from our farms and some will come from our laboratories. Dwindling supplies and increasing demand from newly-industrialized countries of fossil fuels are driving up prices. These price increases will facilitate innovation and the opportunity for independence. We will remove red tape that slows innovation. We will set aside a federal research and development budget that will be matched by the private sector to seek the best new products in alternative fuels. Our free market will sort out what makes the most sense economically and will reward consumer preferences.
We think of globalization as primarily an economic issue and the war on terror as primarily a military issue. Yet the same key unlocks the door to success in both, and that key is energy independence.
This, coming from a Republican candidate! Huckabee, I disagree with you on the social issues, but when it comes to this issue, you are right on the money!
As for the other Republicans: While McCain discusses his commitment to the environment, he doesn’t say much about energy independence on his website, surprisingly. Romney seems to have the worst plan of everyone – he’s talking nuclear power and coal. He seems to be more of the same and not very visionary in this regard.
Here are the environmental/energy independence statements from the leading candidates:
Democrat
Republican
