From the campaign trail, John Edwards outlines big energy plans

We'll Miss the Mall

Today we learned something: there are other Democrats running for president besides Hillrack O'Clinton. Surprised? So were we! Seems a charming southerner, name of John Edwards, is on the campaign trail. And though he's just your run-of-the-mill white fella, the former North Carolina senator is advancing some intriguing eco-ideas. At a speech in Iowa yesterday, he laid out an energy platform that includes capping greenhouse-gas emissions starting in 2010 and cutting them 15 percent by 2020; eliminating $3 billion in subsidies to oil companies; selling the right to emit greenhouse gases and using the proceeds to fund alternative energy; freezing electricity demand; raising fuel economy standards to 40 mpg; and drafting a new global-warming treaty that includes developing nations. "I believe the American people are ready ... to take the steps that are necessary," Edwards said. "They're actually ready for the president of the United States to ask them to do something other than go shopping."

straight to the source: The Des Moines Register, Tony Leys, 21 Mar 2007

straight to the source: CBS News, Associated Press, 20 Mar 2007

see also, in Gristmill: Edwards goes carbon neutral

see also, in Gristmill: Edwards: 80 percent reductions by 2050

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Comments: (3 comments)

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Edwards

I like his new commitment to this topic, but he needs to come up with something better than offsets when justifying his new house.

by Sustainable Bend at 1:25 PM on 21 Mar 2007

And he needs to present the costs of his proposals

Like his proposal to stimulate production of 65 billion gallons of ethanol by 2025. If current subsidies for ethanol remain in place, that would cost the U.S. Treasury roughly $350 billion between now and 2025.

These are only my personal opinions.

by Ron Steenblik at 5:06 PM on 21 Mar 2007

The VOTE

Many of us were attendees at MoveOn.org LiveEarth parties yesterday where we watched with some hope of finding a few 'real' answers to some not too ingenious questions about just how the candidates would handle global warming if elected and what set them apart from their rivals. Most of the answers were non-answers really and, although some boasted of how they were treating global warming as their 'top priority', most merely postured about how great their plans were and gave very little convincing evidence about just how they might actually go about achieving these goals.

I think of all the candiates included, Chris Dodd and John Edwards had the most forward thinking plans with what sounded like perhaps the commitment to actually move forward with them. While Richardson talks big numbers (man, I LOVE 50mpg by 2020!), he just doesn't convince me that he's got the charisma and compassion to carry the country in a direction I hope to see us go. Kucinich is the most warm and fuzzy of all but he doesn't seem to be articulate enough on just how he would go about making real changes and, on the League of Conservation Voters' Global Warming Score Card, he is not very aggressive about his stance.

Suffice it to say, it's politics as usual but I think my vote (which was sort of following Obama) is definitely going elsewhere now. Edwards is one of the frontrunners but, wow, I'm gonna find out more about this Dodd fellow!!!

by vjbeach at 5:04 PM on 08 Jul 2007

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