Candidate Stories
McCain pushes offshore-drilling plan
07/23/2008
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Tuesday that the nation faces an "energy crisis" with both economic and national security implications, requiring more offshore oil drilling to lower gas prices and offset imports from hostile countries.
"My friends, we have to drill offshore - we have to do it," McCain said during a town-hall-style meeting in Rochester, N.H.
McCain also touted alternatives to oil such as nuclear power and batteries to power cars, and he cast Democratic rival Barack Obama as a foe of increased energy production. Criticizing Obama’s opposition to drilling for oil offshore, McCain joked that the campaign should change its slogan from "Yes, we can," to "No, we won’t."
Congress must vote every year to renew a federal moratorium on drilling off most of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, covering 80% of offshore drilling sites. McCain wants the moratorium lifted; Obama doesn’t.--USA Today, 7/23/08
Energy issues likely to be on voters’ minds
07/22/2008
Come Nov. 4, people who pay $4 a gallon or more for gas on the way to the polls will likely be thinking of energy issues while in the voting booth.
Many Arizonans will have paid costly bills for summer air-conditioning. Voters in cooler regions will be dreading their natural-gas or heating-oil bills for the winter.
Whoever inherits the White House can anticipate energy to be one of the defining issues of the presidency. The term will be marked by debates over nuclear, coal, natural-gas and solar power, offshore oil drilling, increasing fuel use from China, and the fact that some people don’t think global oil production can meet demand.
The nation, and presumably the president, will have to find a way to negotiate surging energy needs, environmental concerns and soaring prices.--The Arizona Republic, 7/21/08
McCain calls for tax credit to promote electric cars
07/21/2008
John McCain on Friday called for a tax credit to help American consumers buy electrically powered automobiles as part of an effort to decrease the U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Speaking to General Motors workers after company officials gave him a tour of the design room for the prototype Chevy Volt, the Republican presidential candidate noted that a barrier to the widespread use of electric cars is their exorbitant cost.
"I don’t know if you remember, but the first cell phone cost $1,000," he told a crowd of several hundred workers in a showroom at the GM Technical Center .
"I would support tax credits for Americans who choose to buy the Volt and other automobiles that put us on the track to energy independence," McCain said. He later said the credit would be worth $5,000.--STLtoday.com, 7/19/08
Obama, McCain camps all charged up about energy
07/14/2008
The campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama charged that Republican John McCain’s energy policies could cost Iowa jobs and do little to bring down energy prices for consumers.
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, hit back with criticisms of Obama’s energy positions.
"Today, Barack Obama criticized wind, hydropower, domestic oil drilling, gas tax relief and nuclear power but did not offer a single proposal to bring down gas prices," Bounds said in a statement.--Globe Gazette, 7/12/08
McCain and Obama Take on Environmental Concerns
07/11/2008
Now that there is consensus that global climate change is happening, the real debate is how the next president will address it. Several recent developments, including record oil prices, rapidly rising energy demand, and a growing awareness of the impact of fossil fuel use on the Earth, have provided ample evidence that energy and environment challenges are intimately connected and require a coordinated response. Voters, meanwhile, are growing more concerned. In June, a Gallup Poll found that 9 out of 10 voters say that high energy costs will influence their vote in November.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have heeded the mounting concerns with a flurry of ambitious proposals and promises in recent weeks. McCain frequently argues that energy security is closely intertwined with "national security," if not a prerequisite for it. His campaign has dubbed Obama "Dr. No," a nickname his advisers say captures Obama’s resistance to a host of potentially beneficial energy ideas, including nuclear energy. Obama has responded by comparing the presumptive Republican nominee to President Bush, citing their now shared support for offshore drilling.--US News and World Report, 7/10/08
McCain and Obama share energy goals, not methods
07/02/2008
John McCain and Barack Obama know that most Americans need look no further than the gas pump for proof of America’s energy crunch.
With fuel topping $4 a gallon and oil at a record price, energy now ties the economy in polls as voters’ top concern, and the presidential candidates spent the past week trying to outflank each other on an issue that’s thinning billfolds from Maine to California.
Their plans share key goals - less reliance on foreign oil, a push for cleaner fuels - but their methods differ sharply.--The Christian Science Monitor, 6/30/08
McCain and Obama’s green dream
06/30/2008
What senators McCain and Obama believe about U.S. energy policy matters - hugely. To fight global warming, the next President will oversee the transition to a new, green economy, which will result in one of the biggest business transformations of the 21st century and potentially one of the largest transfers of wealth since the creation of the income tax.
Both candidates agree that a carbon cap-and-trade law is the best way to make industries reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Under such legislation, Washington puts a cap on carbon emissions that is lowered every year, and creates permits allowing industry to emit greenhouse gases just up to those limits. McCain favors reducing America’s carbon dioxide output to 60% of the 1990 level by 2050, whereas Obama sets his target at 80%.--CNNMoney.com, 6/30/08
McCain bucks Bush on climate change
06/25/2008
Republican nominee-elect John McCain Tuesday vowed to combat global warming without sacrificing economic growth, contradicting President George W. Bush on the need for binding emissions cuts.
Unlike Bush, McCain pressed for mandatory cuts in emissions of warming gases as he spoke at a California event alongside Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposes the White House hopeful’s call for offshore oil drilling.
McCain said lifting a federal ban on coastal drilling may not bring down sky-high fuel prices for "some years," but could have a psychological impact as the United States takes greater control over its energy future.
"Nothing is more urgent right now than regaining our energy security—we need to get it done and get it right," the Arizona senator said.--AFP, 6/25/08
Obama thinking long-term on energy
06/16/2008
Barack Obama didn’t offer any pat solutions for America’s energy crisis while speaking to about 200 supporters outside Philadelphia on Saturday.
But the Democratic presidential candidate did criticize quick-fix strategies such as temporarily halting the federal gasoline tax—a policy advocated by his Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Instead, Obama is vowing to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to establish a "green energy sector" to develop solar, wind and biodiesel technologies. To combat rising gas prices, Obama said, Americans have to change how they use energy.--DelawareOnline, 6/15/08
McCain’s Plan to Combat Climate Change
06/12/2008
Regardless of who is elected next November, both candidates agree that climate change is a fact and not a theory. “I know that climate change is real,” said John McCain. “We can have a debate about how serious it is, but the debate about climate change is over.”
McCain and Obama however vary widely in their response to this issue, leaving the American people with a choice of approaches when choosing the next president. McCain’s primary weapons in this battle includes implementing a cap and trade system for emissions and utilizing greater amounts of nuclear power.--Red, Green, and Blue, 6/12/08
On energy policy, is better than Bush enough?
06/10/2008
LAST WEEK, the Senate considered a bipartisan global warming bill - the closest such a far-reaching measure has ever come to passage. Although the bill failed in the end, over half of the Senate supported action on climate change.
The next Congress and administration will have a historic opportunity to build on this momentum and deliver the American people a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gases. The voters this fall must decide an important question: Who is the best candidate to make that happen?--The Boston Globe, 6/10/08
Taking Climate Change Seriously—Finally
06/09/2008
It’s been a long time coming, but the United States is finally going to have a President who takes climate change seriously enough to do something about it.
In contrast to Bush, both McCain and Obama have long said that climate change is a top-priority threat that requires real action now. Environmentally, Obama’s proposals are stronger. The Democrat favors what science says is necessary: an 80 percent cut in emissions by 2050. As President, Obama would achieve this through a "cap and trade" system that sells corporations permits to emit greenhouse gases and then invests the resulting revenue in green energy development and rebates to Americans hit by higher energy prices.--CBS News, June 8, 2008
Lieberman Predicts McCain Will Be Climate Ally
06/05/2008
Sen. Joe Lieberman, in the midst of his arguments on behalf of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act today, suggested the Republican candidate for the presidency would get behind it before the debate is through.--The Hartford Courant, 6/2/08
McCain Raises Concerns About Subsidies for Solar Power
05/15/2008
Sen. John McCain made clear today that he is not comfortable with subsidies for solar power, though he has supported incentives for nuclear power plants and thinks more federal support is needed to encourage the industry.
At a roundtable conducted in the foggy foothills of the Cascade Mountains in North Bend, Wash., McCain listened to the chief executive of REI, the outdoor recreation and clothing cooperative, explain what her company is doing to minimize its impact on the climate. He asked her a simple question: “What do you want me to do?”
Sally Jewel replied, “It’s a great question,” and went on to explain that REI plans to open 10 solar-powered stores in Arizona, California and Oregon (in sunnier markets, she noted, than the rain-soaked one he was in at the moment). The problem, she said, is there are no federal incentives to help defray the costs.
“There isn’t anything significant on the federal side to help us make the right decisions,” she said. “We’re trying to do the right thing without really any incentives.”
McCain replied that he preferred for the federal government to invest in research and development, not subsidies.
“I’m a little wary–I have to give you straight talk–about government subsidies,” he said. He cited his long-time opposition to ethanol subsidies, which have helped push up the price of corn and increase the price of food.
“When government jumps in and distorts the market, then there’s unintended consequences as well as intended,” he said.
But he does support help for nuclear power plants, which he hails as a clean technology that can help reduce carbon emissions. He told reporters at a news conference that a pending Senate bill on climate change, which would establish industry limits on emissions that he favors, needs to add more help for nuclear power.--Wall Street Journal, 5/15/08
McCain Differs With Bush on Climate Change
05/13/2008
Senator John McCain sought to distance himself from President Bush on Monday as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change.
Mr. McCain, in a speech at a wind power company, also pledged to work with the European Union to diplomatically engage China and India, two of the world’s biggest polluters, if they refuse to participate in an international agreement to slow global warming.
“I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears,” Mr. McCain said pointedly. “I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges.”
In speeches on the campaign trail, Mr. McCain frequently highlights the threat of climate change, but he has a mixed record on the environment in the Senate. In recent years he has pushed legislation to curb emissions that contribute to climate change, but he has missed votes on toughening fuel economy standards and has opposed tax breaks meant to encourage alternative energy.
In his address on Monday, Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, renewed his support for a “cap-and-trade” system in which power plants and other polluters could meet limits on heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide by either reducing emissions on their own or buying credits from more efficient producers.
Mr. McCain’s break with the Bush administration means that the three main presidential candidates have embraced swifter action to fight global warming.--The New York Times, 5/13/08
McCain to pitch climate-change plan in Oregon
05/12/2008
John McCain heads to the Pacific Northwest today to propose a climate-change plan, addressing an issue integral to his presidential bid in a region that could be crucial.
The Arizona senator, who often cites climate change as a policy difference with President Bush, plans to renew support for a "cap-and-trade" system that "sets clear limits on all greenhouse gases, while also allowing the sale of rights to excess emissions," according to excerpts of his speech released Sunday.
McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate, plans to propose a series of goals for reduction of carbon emissions, ending at 60% below 1990 levels by the year 2050.
A cap-and-trade system would "change the dynamic of our energy economy," McCain says in the prepared remarks. It would encourage industry to adopt or develop cleaner forms of energy, such as wind, solar, nuclear and "clean coal."
Environmental organizations said McCain deserves credit for his cap-and-trade proposals, but some called them inadequate in face of the threats posed by global warming.
One group, the League of Conservation Voters, said McCain has a congressional career score of 24% on environmental issues.
In a statement, Gene Karpinski, the group’s president, said it appears that McCain "hopes to use global warming and the environment to distance himself from the Bush administration," but given McCain’s record, "that distance can be measured in inches."--USA Today, 5/12/08
Environmental Stances Are Balancing Act For McCain
05/12/2008
McCain has made the environment one of the key elements of his presidential bid. He speaks passionately about the issue of climate change on the campaign trail, and he plans to outline his vision for combating global warming in a major speech today in Portland, Ore.
"I’m proud of my record on the environment," he said at a news conference Friday at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. "As president, I will dedicate myself to addressing the issue of climate change globally."
But an examination of McCain’s voting record shows an inconsistent approach to the environment: He champions some "green" causes while casting sometimes contradictory votes on others.
The senator from Arizona has been resolute in his quest to impose a federal limit on greenhouse gas emissions, even when it means challenging his own party. But he has also cast votes against tightening fuel-efficiency standards and resisted requiring public utilities to offer a specific amount of electricity from renewable sources.
Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s senior policy adviser, said the senator does not always please "environmental groups who are single-issue, litmus test" organizations. Instead, he said, McCain seeks to weigh the costs and benefits of each environmental issue.
"Look, he always balances what are the environmental implications of these enterprises and what are the economic benefits that could come from them," Holtz-Eakin said. "That is, in general, an approach which may be harder to read than a flat ideological X or Y, but it’s how he reads these things, it’s how he evaluates these kinds of decisions."
As a result, McCain scores significantly lower than his Democratic rivals for the presidency, Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), in interest groups’ studies of his environmental voting record. McCain’s lifetime League of Conservation Voters score is 24 percent, compared with 86 for Obama and 86 for Clinton; Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund’s conservation report card gave him 38 percent in the 108th Congress and 40 in the 109th. (McCain has missed every major environmental vote this Congress, giving him a zero rating.)--The Washington Post, 5/12/08
Union, advocacy groups to tout home-grown ‘green jobs’
04/09/2008
The United Steelworkers, Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council launched the "Green Jobs for America" coalition today in 12 states to boost U.S. renewable energy supply and demand.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the coalition cannot lobby lawmakers to pass legislation. But Green Jobs for America is free to educate the people who put those lawmakers in office, underscored Josh Dorner, a Sierra Club spokesman.
"This isn’t an electoral or political program," Dorner explained. "This is to educate people about the breadth of what a green job is."
The coalition will conduct its education efforts in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The states were chosen because they are positioned best to benefit from green jobs creation, Dorner said.
A study commissioned last year by the Sierra Club and United Steelworkers’ Blue Green Alliance suggested that the dozen states stand to gain about 263,000 manufacturing jobs in the wind and solar parts industries alone over a decade. The figure assumes that the United States opts to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere by adding 18,500 megawatts of renewable energy projects annually for a decade.
"With the economy the way it is, any sort of job that keeps people employed here in America is good," said Jenny Powers, an NRDC spokeswoman in New York.
Amid all of the recessionary hand-wringing, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is making green-collar jobs a focal point on the campaign trail. Last week in Pittsburgh, the New York senator unveiled an "insourcing" agenda that she said would provide $7 billion in tax incentives and investments to help U.S. companies create high-paying jobs.
Under the agenda’s $500 million "Made in America" fund, renewable energy companies would be eligible to receive awards that cover up to 30 percent of the costs of engineering, retooling or constructing manufacturing facilities.--E&ENews PM, 4/8/08
McCain on global warming: Strong warnings, few details
04/01/2008
Since his last try for the presidency in 2000, John McCain has listened closely to the evidence on global warming, agreed with scientists that pollution is much to blame and concluded that the United States must limit its emissions from fossil fuels.
However, McCain is staying out of the nitty-gritty of how regulators would cushion shocks to industry and consumers. He hasn’t declared support for the highly detailed cap and trade bill sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman, an independent Democrat from Connecticut, and John Warner, R-Va., that the Senate will debate in June.
While environmentalists give McCain credit for early leadership in Washington on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, some say that it’s impossible to know how he’d lead on global warming if he’s elected.
Nick Berning, a spokesman for the environmental group Friends of the Earth, said that the cap and trade legislation McCain sponsored last year was too weak because the target by 2050 was too low, pollution from some parts of the economy wasn’t covered and too many permits would be given away free to industries.
"He’s not supporting the types of solutions we need," Berning said. "He’s way behind the curve in providing the leadership that’s needed."--McClatchy, 3/23/08
Clinton, Obama offer big plans on global warming
04/01/2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama agree on the basics of global warming. Both believe scientists’ warnings that it poses a catastrophic threat. Both demand urgent action, and both think there’s still hope of escaping the worst consequences through technological advances, developing new energy sources and sharply reducing pollution.
Obama and Clinton acknowledge that they’re counting on some technologies that don’t exist yet. But both say that their detailed plans, combined with a mighty mobilization akin to the nation’s entry into World War II, will get the country on track to lead the world in doing what must be done.
While key parts of their plans are similar, each candidate offers some new ideas.
"We are a land of moon shots and miracles of science and technology that have touched the lives of millions across the planet," Obama said his key energy speech. "And when that planet is challenged or when it is threatened, the eyes of the world have always turned to this nation as the ‘last, best hope of Earth.’ "
"This is the biggest challenge we have faced in a generation," Clinton said when she rolled out her energy plan in Iowa. "It is a challenge to our economy, to our security, to our health and to our planet. And it’s time for America to meet it."--McClatchy, 3/31/08
Dems tweak ‘green energy’ messages for coal-state primaries
03/26/2008
Heading to critical coal-state primaries, Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are trying to appeal to mining interests while promoting climate-friendly agendas.
So far, coal industry officials say they like what they are hearing, but they question whether either candidate has their interests at heart. And environmentalists say they are frustrated by what they see as candidates’ pandering to industry.
The stakes are high for Clinton and Obama, who are in a neck-and-neck race for their party’s nomination. The nation’s fourth largest coal-producing state, Pennsylvania, is the biggest remaining primary, with 188 delegates at stake April 22. It is followed by contests in three other big coal producers—Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky.
Voters in those states are anxious about how federal efforts to address climate change might affect their industries, experts say. Yet polls show independent voters nationwide want candidates to provide solutions to climate change and promote the development of "green" jobs and businesses.
With that in mind, Clinton and Obama have tweaked their stump speeches to mention "clean coal" alongside wind and solar energy when they outline plans to address climate change.
Clinton promised in Charleston, W.Va., last week to be an advocate for clean coal research and called for 10 major demonstration projects, including one in West Virginia. Asked during a radio interview that day about mountaintop-removal mining—fiercely opposed by environmentalists—the New York senator said, "It’s a difficult question because of the conflict between the economic and environmental trade-off that you have here."
And Obama in West Virginia late last week not only said the United States must invest heavily in clean coal technology but included clean coal jobs among the 5 million "green" jobs he promised to create with his energy agenda. As a senator from Illinois, Obama has been a steadfast supporter of clean coal on Capitol Hill.--Greenwire, 3/25/08
McCain adviser questions Democrats’ push for more than cap and trade
03/24/2008
John McCain bucks the traditional Republican establishment with his support for cap-and-trade legislation, but the Arizona senator’s presidential campaign is trying to differentiate itself from its Democratic rivals by rejecting calls for additional climate-themed restrictions.
"The basic idea is if you go with a cap and trade and do it right with appropriate implementation, you don’t need technology-specific and sectoral policies that are on the books and that others are proposing simultaneously," Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a McCain campaign policy adviser, said in an interview yesterday.
Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, dismissed the presidential campaign platforms of McCain’s two remaining Democratic rivals, Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. Specifically, he questioned the candidates’ calls for a new federal low carbon fuel limit, stronger fuel economy standards and policies to reduce U.S. oil consumption.
Cap and trade, Holtz-Eakin said, is the ideal solution by itself. "You don’t need redundant policies that interfere with the flexibility that is the key to meeting these desirable goals at low costs," he said.
Both Clinton and Obama support setting up a mandatory cap-and-trade program to reduce U.S. heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by midcentury. They are also identical in backing a 100 percent auction of the emission credits.
Unlike McCain, the two Democratic candidates would push their climate regulations beyond cap and trade.--Greenwire, 3/21/08
Climate is risky issue for Democrats
11/06/2007
All of the leading Democratic contenders for the presidency are committed to a set of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions that would change the way Americans light their homes, fuel their automobiles and do their jobs, costing billions of dollars in the short term but potentially, the candidates say, saving even more in the decades to follow. --Washington Post, November 6, 2007
Clinton offers $50 billion global warming plan
11/06/2007
CEDAR RAPIDS - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton called today for creation of a $50 billion strategic energy fund coupled with higher fuel efficiency standards.—AP, November 5, 2007
McCain talks climate change during stop in Iowa
10/29/2007
Environmental group runs ads praising Edwards
10/25/2007
Richardson calls for “Marshall Plan” to address global warming
10/22/2007
Global Warming Starts to Divide G.O.P. Contenders
10/17/2007
New York Times
Marc SantoraWhile many conservative commentators and editorialists have mocked concerns about climate change, a different reality is emerging among Republican presidential contenders. It is a near-unanimous recognition among the leaders of the threat posed by global warming.
Within that camp, however, sharp divisions are developing. Senator John McCain of Arizona is calling for capping gas emissions linked to warming and higher fuel economy standards. Others, including Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney, are refraining from advocating such limits and are instead emphasizing a push toward clean coal and other alternative energy sources.
All agree that nuclear power should be greatly expanded.
The debate has taken an intriguing twist. Two candidates appealing to religious conservatives, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, call for strong actions to ease the effects of people on the climate, at times casting the effort in spiritual terms just as some evangelical groups have taken up the cause.
The emergence of climate change as an issue dividing Republicans shows just how far the discussion has shifted since 1997, when the Senate voted, 95 to 0, to oppose any international climate treaty that could hurt the American economy or excused China from responsibilities.
The debate among Republicans is largely not about whether people are warming the planet, but about how to deal with it.
The issue inserted itself into the presidential campaign on Friday with the announcement that Al Gore had won the Nobel Peace Prize for work highlighting the threat posed by climate change.
The leading Democratic candidates rushed to praise Mr. Gore, underlying how that party has sought to seize the issue with proposals like higher standards for fuel mileage and taxing emissions of carbon dioxide.
The issue had been gradually bubbling up among leading Republicans as top corporations, including some in petroleum, have been pushing to address it.
Mr. McCain, who acknowledges that he knew little about the climate problem when he sought his party’s presidential nomination eight years ago, held a Senate hearing on climate change in 2001 and quickly became a convert to the notion that carbon emissions were warming the planet.
In recent years, he has fought to introduce measures for caps on dangerous emissions. Last week, Mr. McCain promised to demand sharply higher fuel standards from the automobile industry.
He also promised to have the United States join the international climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, although only on the condition that India and China join, too. Many experts say that condition is unlikely to be met at the moment.
"I don’t know what it is going to be like the rest of my life on this planet," Mr. McCain said at the Global Warming and Energy Solutions Conference on Saturday in Manchester, N.H. "But I can tell you this. I have had enough experience and enough knowledge to believe that unless we reverse what is happening on this planet, my dear friends, we are going to hand our children a planet that is badly damaged."
Mr. Romney and Mr. Giuliani say little about the potential dangers of climate change and almost nothing about curbing emissions of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. They talk almost exclusively about the need for independence from foreign oil as a necessity for national security.
Fred D. Thompson, after mocking the threat in April, said more recently that "climate change is real" and suggested a measured approach until more was known about it.
In the tangled Republican race, Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Romney have been much more hesitant to criticize policies of President Bush, who in his two presidential campaigns said that more study of climate change was needed before imposing restrictions on heat-trapping gases.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Giuliani has said, "I do believe there’s global warming," but in a speech on energy in the summer in Waterloo, Iowa, he had hardly a word about the environment. Instead, he focused on tapping domestic sources of energy, including coal, which is considered a major contributor to global warming.
"Ethanol, biodiesel, clean coal, nuclear power, more refineries, conservation," Mr. Giuliani said. "There’s no one single solution. But each one of these has to be expanded 10 percent, 15 percent, 20 percent.
"America has more coal reserves than Saudi Arabia has oil reserves. Aren’t we safer and better off relying on our own coal reserves than on a part of the world that is a threat to us?"
Mr. Romney has voiced an almost identical theme, with the two candidates saying they will lead an effort to make the United States energy independent that will be on the scale of putting a man on the Moon or the race to build an atomic bomb.
To illustrate the commitment to new fuel sources, a clip of Mr. Romney’s forum in April in Derry, N.H., has been posted on his campaign’s Web site.
"That is much broader than one form of fuel like ethanol," Mr. Romney said. "I believe we have to be developing more energy sources ourselves, which would include offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR, nuclear power, biodiesel, biofuel, ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, probably liquefied coal. We have enormous supplies of coal."
Mr. McCain said in his speech on Saturday that he wanted to push for alternative fuels, but he implied that more needed to be done to protect the environment.
One priority, he said, would be to establish "cap and trade," a system in which corporations are essentially rewarded for deep cuts in harmful emissions.
Mr. McCain has written a bill on that and forced two votes, losing both.
In addition to calling for improved fuel efficiency, which he repeated last week in a speech in Detroit, Mr. McCain said he supported an effort to develop an automobile battery that can travel 150 to 200 miles without a charge and would finance the research and development for that.
The senator opposes a measure that many environmentalists desire, a carbon tax, most likely as another gasoline tax. He told the warming and energy conference that he generally opposed new taxes but that he also believed that poor workers who tended to commute to work longer distances would be disproportionately affected.
Mr. McCain said it took a few months of hearings as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee after the 2000 election for him to realize the threat from climate change. Asked about Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Romney’s commitment to energy independence, he said voters should look at their records.
"What were they doing in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006?" Mr. McCain asked.
Obama Links Faith to Environmentalism
10/15/2007
Obama calls for no new coal-fired power plants
10/12/2007
Obama Proposes Deep Greenhouse Gas Cuts
10/08/2007
Group Hopes Donors Can Raise Profile Of Warming Issue
10/03/2007
The League of Conservation Voters Education Fund has unveiled a plan to enlist wealthy donors to upgrade global warming as an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Thompson Changes View on Ethanol
10/03/2007
Visiting Chicago to raise funds after an extended Iowa visit with a tour of an ethanol plant, Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said the world has changed since he voted against ethanol subsidies while serving as a Tennessee senator.
The Presidential Candidates on Climate Change
09/25/2007
White House Hopefuls Love Iowa Ethanol
08/30/2007
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)—Don't expect to hear much talk about farming from the presidential candidates who regularly tour Iowa, one of the nation's premier agriculture states.
Edwards touts alternative energy plan
08/18/2007
Democrat John Edwards on Friday proposed boosting the use of alternative fuels by replacing 100,000 school buses with biodiesel vehicles.
Obama Says Energy Policy a Moral Issue
08/18/2007
Democrat Barack Obama said Saturday the country faces an "an urgent moral challenge" to reduce reliance on oil and needs a president willing to defy special interests in Washington that dictate energy policy.
Richardson touts plan for first days
08/04/2007
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson brought his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to Iowa Wesleyan College Friday morning, building a lengthy speech on his promised priorities for his first half-dozen days in office.
In Online Writings, Thompson Flashes His Conservative Credentials
07/27/2007
On the Internet sites where conservatives gather to read and chat each day, Fred D. Thompson, the as-yet-unannounced Republican presidential candidate, has been laying out his positions on dozens of issues with little public notice and plenty of rhetorical flair.
Clinton announces energy, climate plan at forum
07/25/2007
As she explained her policies on energy independence and global climate change, Sen. Hillary Clinton said her keystone Strategic Energy Fund would be financed in part through "a deal I would offer the oil companies." The deal is blunt: Invest in alternative energy sources or find your windfall profits taxed.
Becoming energy independent: Top candidates offer different paths to goal
07/21/2007
Check the news and you can easily find where each presidential candidate stands on the war in Iraq, the economy and health care. Less publicized but still issues for all candidates are energy independence and the use of nuclear power.
Giuliani: More Ethanol, Nuclear Power
07/19/2007
Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani argued on Thursday that he can lead the country away from reliance on foreign oil with increases in ethanol production and nuclear power.
Edwards Unveils “Green Collar” Jobs Plan
07/13/2007
Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards on Friday unveiled a plan to help train 150,000 American workers each year in "green collar" jobs, allowing them to reap the benefits of the nation's growing energy economy.
Edwards wins online poll on climate change
07/11/2007
John Edwards has the best approach to fighting climate change of any 2008 Democratic presidential contender, according to an online straw poll of members of the liberal activist group MoveOn.org.
Sen. Obama seizes on Live Earth in bid to woo environmentalists
07/10/2007
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) used Saturday's Live Earth music extravaganza to make amends with liberal environmentalists he angered earlier this year by introducing a bill subsidizing liquefied coal, a fuel activists say would accelerate global warming.
Edwards: environmental work can mean jobs
07/05/2007
Millions of manufacturing jobs can result from collaboration between blue-collar industries and environmental projects, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a union political gathering Thursday.
Coal Fuels A Debate Over Obama: Democrat Stuck Between Industry and Environment
06/24/2007
In 2004, as a state legislator running for the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama came to this small town 300 miles from Chicago to pledge support for southern Illinois' struggling coal country.
Both parties plan green conventions
06/15/2007
Democrats and Republicans are both planning to hold "green" national political conventions next year, partly to win over environmentally minded voters who could be influential in determining control of the White House and Congress.
Pelosi, Dingell Clash Over Push for Tough Fuel-Efficiency Rules
06/15/2007
A feud over fuel-efficiency standards is emerging as a central test of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ability to bridge a divide between Democrats who want to slash greenhouse-gas emissions and those who want to protect home-state industries.
Obama yields to a greener side
06/13/2007
With pressure mounting on Democratic presidential candidates to adopt hard-line positions on curbing global warming, Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday backtracked from his long-held support for a controversial plan to promote the use of coal as an alternative fuel to power motor vehicles.
John Edwards wants U.S. to back G8 on climate change
06/12/2007
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Tuesday said the United States should join the Group of Eight in a call to cut global warming gas emissions in half by 2050.
Shifting Politics Of Global Climate Change
06/08/2007
The president promises to seriously consider proposals to cut green house gases by 50-percent. But the agreement coming out of this weeks G-8 Summit failed to set mandatory cuts or timetables.
Interest in Climate Change Heats Up in 2008 Race
06/08/2007
Environmental issues have rarely played a starring role in presidential politics. But some hope this campaign will be different. Already, the issue is moving to the front burner among would-be leaders in the U.S. presidential race.
Heating Up the Campaign Trail
06/01/2007
Global warming has emerged as one of the top issues for candidates in the race for the White House. Living on Earth's Jeff Young explores this changing political climate.
Climate heats up White House race
05/31/2007
The 2008 White House race is bringing American global warming politics in from the cold, as candidates churn out complex plans on an increasingly key campaign issue.
Dodd on climate change: ‘Whole world in our hands’
05/31/2007
Chris Dodd goes for the heart in his new ad, debuting today. The ad, the third of his presidential campaign, opens with children singing "We've got the whole world in our hands" as they play with miniature globes. An announcer then warns "All the Earth's creatures are threatened by global warming."
Sen. Brownback says he’s bullish on coal liquids, biofuels
05/23/2007
The United States should focus on reducing its dependence on foreign oil and avoid mandatory curbs on climate-changing greenhouse gases under an energy policy outlined yesterday by the Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback.
4 Presidential Hopefuls Agree on Climate Policy
05/22/2007
At the Brookings Institution this morning, a panel of policy advisers to four leading presidential contenders engaged in what one jokingly called "violent agreement" on issues of climate change.
US candidates compete on climate
05/21/2007
It is not often that record high petrol prices prove helpful to American politicians. But with prices now riding at more than $3 a gallon in many parts of the country, voters are listening ever more attentively to how their 2008 presidential contenders will tackle global warming.
Political climate changing on global warming
05/18/2007
Al Gore isn't running for president, but in some sense he's already won. All the major Democratic candidates for president—and a fair number of the Republicans, as well—have embraced Gore's signature issue: global warming.
Richardson calls for energy revolution
05/17/2007
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Thursday laid out his plan for a dramatic shift in the way the U.S. uses energy, proposing to all but end the country's reliance on oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2040.
Hagel: Global warming threatens national security
05/11/2007
As more and more scientists around the world confirm the growing impact of global warming, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said national security also needs to be factored into the climate change debate.
Obama addresses cars, fuel and global warming
05/08/2007
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday that U.S. energy policy must change in order to help domestic automakers answer the rising global demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
McCain Talks Tough on Global Warming in Mountain View
05/05/2007
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain spent over an hour talking with Google employees in a town-hall style forum at the Internet company’s Mountain View headquarters on Friday.
Giuliani’s Tie to Texas Law Firm May Pose Risk
05/02/2007
“From clean air to mercury pollution to global warming policies,” said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, “Giuliani’s firm has been perhaps the most anti-environment voice in Washington, representing some of the biggest corporate polluters.”
Environment policy a must-have for candidates
04/27/2007
Democrats have been seen as owning the environmental issue for decades, and for taking up the cause of global warming in recent years, but now presidential candidates from both major parties are touting their commitment to combating climate change.
‘08 hopefuls tout climate-change plans
04/26/2007
Liberal or conservative, declared or undeclared, candidates eyeing the 2008 presidential election are feeling political heat on climate change. They're reading polls showing that most Americans think global warming is a serious problem, and they're being pressured by interest groups who are keeping a close eye on candidates' positions.
Ads push global warming toward debate stage
04/25/2007
With help from actor Robert Redford and key state legislators, environmentalists launched a full-scale effort this week to make global warming a priority issue for presidential candidates in South Carolina. ... Meanwhile, lawmakers said Tuesday about two thirds of the Legislature's members have signed letters urging presidential candidates to address climate change and energy independence while stumping South Carolina.
S.C. lawmakers to White House candidates: Define energy policies
04/24/2007
Climate Change Activists Targeting Primary States; Environment Issue Heats Up the Campaign Trail
04/24/2007
Once a major agenda item only for left-leaning Democrats, climate change is fast becoming a hot issue on the political radar of mainstream American voters—and presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle have taken note. "As this becomes of increasing concern to Americans, you are seeing the leading candidates on both the Democratic and Republican side addressing this issue," said Chris Miller of Greenpeace.
Presidential Hopeful McCain Calls Energy Dependence and Global Warming Twin Threats
04/23/2007
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is calling the United States' foreign-oil reliance and global warming twin threats the country must aggressively confront.
Obama pushes carbon reductions in fuel used for automobiles
04/20/2007
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says the fuel used to power automobiles should contain less of the carbon that pollutes the air - enough to make the same impact as taking 32 million cars off the road.
Clinton campaign goes ‘carbon neutral’
04/20/2007
To observe Earth Day on Sunday, Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said it would become "carbon neutral" to help fight global warming.
Sen. Chris Dodd: Tax ‘Greenhouse Gas’ Emissions
04/19/2007
Sen. Chris Dodd, splitting with his Democratic presidential rivals over the best way to cut pollution and curb global warming, wants to tax corporations for their carbon dioxide emissions.
Gingrich drops skepticism on global warming
04/11/2007
In a Capitol Hill debate about global warming touted by its moderator as a "smackdown" between former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, Gingrich praised Kerry's recently released book about environmentalism, acknowledged that global warming is real, and offered what amounted to an unexpected apology for his party's inaction on curtailing greenhouse gas emissions.
Edwards touts environmental policy during Stonyfield stop
04/04/2007
Presidential candidate John Edwards used a campaign stop at eco-friendly Stonyfield Farm yesterday to highlight his plans for battling global warming.
Candidates on wheels: Campaigns look to hybrids, flex-fuel cars
04/02/2007
This year's presidential candidates are trying to get good mileage out of getting good mileage.
Biden talks green with industrial reps
04/01/2007
The nation needs to step up its role in containing greenhouse gas and carbon emissions, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden told representatives of the state's manufacturing industry Saturday.
Interview with Rudy Giuliani
03/27/2007
If you want to deal with global warming, the way to deal with global warming is to--is to develop these alternative technologies.
CAMPAIGN 2008: Democratic ‘resume candidate’ hopes to ride energy issues to White House
03/27/2007
In a pack of Democratic presidential hopefuls, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson wears the tag, "resume candidate"—pundits' shorthand for a politician who's rich in experience but likely to be short on votes.
Edwards calls for capping of greenhouse gas emissions
03/21/2007
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is calling for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, saying global warming is an international emergency.
Candidates warm to climate change
03/21/2007
Thousands of New Hampshire voters were talking about it last week at town meeting. Hollywood was talking about it before and after Al Gore won an Oscar. But is the next president of the United States talking about it?
Obama keeps it simple
03/17/2007
Asked about global warming, Obama said he supports a cap-and-trade system, which means "slapping a price tag" on carbon emission credits and auctioning those off to the highest bidder. The billions generated from those auctions should be plowed into a "Manhattan project," searching for new energy sources.
Richardson Presses Oil Independence Plan
03/14/2007
`In the West, it's not just liberal college kids who ask what we are doing about global warming - it's the conservative farmers and ranchers whose way of living is at risk.''
Edwards Increases Efforts to Fight Global Warming
03/14/2007
As part of his efforts to combat global warming, Senator John Edwards announced today that he will make his campaign “carbon neutral.” Edwards believes global warming is one of the great challenges facing America and the world and that we can all take immediate action to decrease the amount of carbon we produce. By conserving energy and purchasing carbon offsets, the Edwards campaign will offset the carbon emitted by Edwards and his staff’s campaign travel, and the energy used in his campaign headquarters and field offices.
Have a favorite candidate? Find out stand on issues
03/12/2007
The stands of these 2008 presidential candidates on a selection of issues…
Candidate McCain endorses state’s global warming fight
02/22/2007
Republican presidential candidate John McCain, applauding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for taking on the "compelling issue of global climate challenge," pledged Wednesday to make California's global warming fight the model for a national effort to curb greenhouse gases.
Analysis: GOP bandwagon on greenhouse gas
02/22/2007
When Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., met the media on the docks of Los Angeles this week to talk energy with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, it was a sure sign that the Republicans have gotten their ducks in a row when it comes to climate change.
World ‘at tipping point over global warming’ (McCain)
02/18/2007
A leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination declared the debate on global warming "over" yesterday and said that the US would act to save the environment.
Richardson touts experience at Portsmouth appearance
02/18/2007
Richardson said the first thing he would do as president is re-sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international pact to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases to help stem global warming.
Candidate: Energy security top issue
02/14/2007
Freeing the nation from foreign-oil dependence and global warming's threat will require an effort "more important than the Manhattan Project," which invented the atomic bomb, and "more inspiring than the Apollo space project" that put men on the moon. It must be done and can be achieved w