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Clinton’s Energy Speech in Newton

-- Steve -- 11/08/2007

In an outbuilding at the new biodiesel plant in Newton, Iowa, with a few hundred people in attendance, Hillary Clinton announced her plan to lead the country to a new "green" energy economy.

"This is the biggest challenge we've faced in a generation" said Clinton, "a challenge to our economy, our security, our health and our planet. I believe America is ready to take action, ready to break the bonds of the old energy economy and ready to prove that the climate crisis is also one of the greatest economic opportunities in the history of our country. . . . It will be a new beginning for the 21st century."

Clinton first outlined why we need to change and face this challenge as an opportunity. Global climate change and the threat it poses will "unleash a wave of innovation, create millions of new jobs, enhance our security and lead the world to a revolution in how we produce and use energy. It will literally be a new beginning for the 21st Century."

Major pieces of her proposal include:

- Putting in place a cap and trade system, with a goal of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 percent. Under that system, greenhouse gases are capped and businesses that produce less than allowed can sell their credits to companies that produce more than allowed.

- Set a vehicle fuel efficiency standard of 55 miles per gallon by 2030, partially financed by the $20 billion in new bonds. Clinton estimated that by 2030, her plan would cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds compared with current projections.

- Pay for the retrofitting and modernizing of 20 million homes for low-income residents to cut electrical use. Overall electrical use would be reduced by 20 percent by 2020, and one-fourth of electricity would be produced by renewable sources by 2030. Those sources include, wind, solar, biomass and geothermal.

- Setting a goal of producing 60 billion gallons of renewable fuel such as ethanol and soy diesel, immensely popular programs in farm states like Iowa that produce corn and soybeans.

- Double federal spending on basic energy research, set new efficiency standards for appliances and phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs.

- Begin a new program to make it easier for low- and middle-income families to buy energy efficient homes.

- Create a National Energy Council in the White House to coordinate federal efforts.

- Fund 10 "smart grid cities" to deploy plug-in hybrid vehicles on a large scale.

"It's the biggest challenge we've faced in a generation, a challenge to our economy, our health and our planet,'' said Clinton. "It's time for America to meet it. It is time to get back into the solutions business."

At the end of her address, Clinton took questions from the audience and one of the questions was by a Grinnell College student who was concerned about the long-term effects of green house gases. Clinton made note that most of the questions she gets around the country about global warming come from college, high school, and middle school students that express concern about their future and the future of the planet.

I hope the young people of our country continue to ask all the presidential candidates about this threat that hangs over our future.

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by Andrew Snow

by Andrew Snow