Brownback on the Issues

Update: Brownback dropped out of the presidential race on Oct. 19, 2007.

Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback, who has represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate since 1996, calls for the U.S. to be "energy secure" so it won't have to depend on unfriendly countries for oil -- and touts ethanol as a homegrown solution to the problem. He calls for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, even though he's not convinced that humans are responsible for global warming. His lifetime voting score from the League of Conservation Voters is 14 percent.

Read an interview with Sam Brownback by Grist and Outside.

Key Points

• Emphasizes the importance of decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil and becoming "energy secure."
  
  
• Accepts that the atmosphere is warming and carbon dioxide is building up in the atmosphere, but isn't convinced of the relationship between the warming and human activity.
  
  
• Wants to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through market-based measures; opposes mandatory caps on emissions.
  
  
• Has opposed raising auto fuel-economy standards in the past, but more recently has supported a modest increase to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 if automakers think it's achievable.
  
  
• Supports expansion of nuclear power, as well as storage of nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.
  
  
• Supports continued use of coal, including liquefied coal, but wants to find cleaner ways to burn the coal.
  
  
• Supports oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore in U.S. waters.
  
  
• Enthusiastically touts ethanol, biodiesel, and plug-in hybrids.
  
  

Video & Audio

Watch Brownback talk about climate change and the environment:




Watch Brownback talk about innovation and energy:




Watch Brownback discuss energy security and global human rights during an energy policy speech on May 22, 2007:

Quotable Quotes

• "It seems to me just prudent that we recognize we have climate increase and temperature change. We have CO2 loading and we need to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere."
  
  -- Jan. 30, 2007, speaking with reporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  
  
  
• "There is no silver bullet solution to the fuel problem. We should introduce competition into the transportation fuel market, which is currently 97 percent dependent upon petroleum-based products. Consumers need another option beyond petroleum, and that option should be electricity, which is generated here in America. We could be fueling a majority of our transportation sector with American sources of energy, as opposed to foreign oil. We should be more dependent on the Midwest for our fuel, rather than the Middle East."
  
  -- May 22, 2007, in a speech on energy policy
  
  
  

Platform & Record In-Depth

• Cosponsor of the DRIVE Act of 2007 (clever acronym alert! DRIVE = Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy), which aims to reduce oil consumption by 10 million barrels a day by 2031 through such means as boosting ethanol incentives and establishing a tire-efficiency program for cars and light trucks.
  
  
• Cosponsor of the National Carbon Dioxide Storage Capacity Assessment Act of 2007, which would require an assessment of the nation's geological carbon sequestration capacity. And cosponsor of separate legislation that directs the Department of Energy to study carbon sequestration and conduct at least seven large-volume sequestration tests.
  
  
• Cosponsor of a bill in 2007 that would block manure from being considered a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant under the Superfund law.
  
  
• Cosponsor of the Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007, which would offer tax credits to landowners who have an endangered or threatened species on their land and who enter into habitat protection agreements.
  
  
• Cosponsor of Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2007, which would establish a conservation fund to help protect rare wild dog and cat species in other countries.
  
  
• Voted for the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to open up about 8.3 million acres in the gulf to oil and gas drilling.
  
  
• Cosponsored the Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act of 2005, which called for the U.S. to cut oil consumption by 10 million barrels per day by 2031.
  
  
• Voted in favor of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, a sweeping, oil-friendly energy bill opposed by enviros. The act passed, and Bush signed it into law in August 2005.
  
  
• Voted against amendments to the 2005 Energy Policy Act that would have required the U.S. to reduce oil demand by 7.64 million barrels a day by 2025 from projected levels and capped greenhouse-gas emissions at 2000 levels by 2010.
  
  
• Voted against an amendment to the 2003 energy bill that would have raised auto fuel-economy standards to 40 miles per gallon by 2015.
  
  
• Voted against the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act in 2005.
  
  
• Voted in favor of a renewable portfolio standard in 2005 that would have required utilities to get 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.
  
  
• Cosponsor in 2001 of a trio of carbon-sequestration bills that would have offered carbon-sequestration tax credits and established an international carbon-sequestration program, a sequestration program for U.S. landowners, and an outreach program to educate farmers on agriculture practices that increase carbon sequestration in the soil. None of the bills passed.
  
  
• Drives a Honda Civic hybrid at his home in Kansas.
  
  

Still Haven't Gotten Enough?

• Read Brownback's energy platform on his campaign website.
  
  
• Read Brownback's agriculture platform on his campaign website.
  
  
• Read Brownback's official bio.
  
  
• Read David Roberts' critique of Brownback's energy plan.
  
  

What did we miss? Tell us below in comments. We'll update this page as the presidential campaign continues.


Todd Hymas Samkara and Kate Sheppard contributed to this fact sheet.