FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2008
CONTACT: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384
David Willett, 202.675.6698
In Their Own Words:
Candidates on Clean Energy in Election 2008
Washington, D.C.--In 2006, the wind turbine became the star of campaign ads
and pro-environment candidates surged to victory using messages focused on
the transformative power of the clean energy economy. This trend has
continued in 2008, with energy policy occupying a central role in the
election. Candidates have continued to tout the economic potential of the
clean energy future, while decrying the chokehold that Big Oil has on our
politics, economy, and national security. As the economic crisis
transformed the political landscape, it has become increasingly clear to
politicians and voters alike that solutions to our economic and energy
crises are one and the same: create millions of new jobs, rebuild the
middle class, fight global warming, secure our nation, and put America back
to work by investing in clean energy.
Barack Obama:
"Energy we have to deal with today, because you're paying $3.80 here in
Nashville for gasoline, and it could go up. And it's a strain on your
family budget, but it's also bad for our national security, because
countries like Russia and Venezuela and, you know, in some cases, countries
like Iran, are benefiting from higher oil prices.
"So we've got to deal with that right away. That's why I've called for an
investment of $15 billion a year over 10 years. Our goal should be, in 10
year's time, we are free of dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
And we can do it. Now, when JFK said we're going to the Moon in 10 years,
nobody was sure how to do it, but we understood that, if the American
people make a decision to do something, it gets done. So that would be
priority number one.
-Second Presidential Debate, 10/7/08
U.S. Senate:
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire:
"In the Senate, I will fight to end the billions in tax breaks to Big Oil
and use that money to make an unwavering commitment to the development of
alternative and renewable energy sources. New energy investment will not
only end our dependence on foreign oil, but it will create 21st century
jobs that will help us continue to be a leader in the global economy. I
want those jobs here in the United States and here in New Hampshire."
-Union Leader, 9/16/08
Kay Hagan, North Carolina:
"Energy cost is the first thing that people mention to me every day. ... We
need to become the state that says, 'Alternative energy sources (are)
important to us.' We need to be helping people with manufacturing solar
panels and windmill parts, creating those jobs in North Carolina. Once we
do that, those jobs aren't going to be outsourced."
-Greensboro News & Record, 8/10/08
Bruce Lunsford, Kentucky:
"My eight-point energy plan includes an emphasis on developing clean and
renewable energy. Both of the major presidential candidates have said this,
and even T. Boone Pickens, the conservative billionaire Texas oilman, has
said this is one problem we can't drill our way out of."
-Lexington Herald Leader, 8/4/08
Mark Udall, Colorado:
"Oil at $120 a barrel is strangling our economy. We need to stop talking
about our addiction and do something about it. We should put aside red and
blue and be green. Being green is about the most patriotic thing we can
do."
-Rocky Mountain News, 5/10/2008
Jeff Merkley, Oregon:
"We need to scrap the energy policy written by the oil companies and end
America's dependence on foreign oil. We need to invest in renewable energy
production, promote energy efficiency and support research and development.
This is critical for our national security, to combat global warming and to
create green-collar jobs."
-The Oregonian, 10/12/08
U.S. House of Representatives:
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, First District of New Hampshire:
"Our country's dependence on oil is a threat to our national security, a
hazard to our precious environment and a burden to millions of hardworking
Americans who are struggling to fill the tank. The American people deserve
more than empty promises and false outrage. They deserve a smart,
aggressive, responsible plan that actively puts our country on the course
to true energy independence."
-Union Leader, 9/18/08
Martin Heinrich, First District of New Mexico:
"The long term solution to this: We start now getting serious about
renewables and getting serious about efficiency and getting serious about
the way cars are powered. In the long run we need to end our addiction to
oil and switch to clean sources of energy."
-Albuquerque Journal, 5/18/08
Ashwin Madia, Third District of Minnesota:
"People want to see this economy get on track again. Some of the ideas that
we've been talking about is to help form a new direction for our economy.
First of all, to invest in a renewable energy economy - things like wind
and solar and bio-fuels - and provide ready alternatives to oil, that will
help bring the prices of oil down."
-India Abroad, 8/15/08
Frank Kratovil, First District of Maryland:
"The investments that are made today in alternative energies, such as wind,
solar and fuel cell technology, will stimulate more progress and ultimately
pay great dividends."
-Daily Times, 9/21/08
Linda Stender, Seventh District of New Jersey:
"I think [offshore drilling]'s a misplaced priority, because what we ought
to be doing is investing in and developing new resources and new
technologies which have been ignored at the expense of giving the tax
breaks to the big oil companies."
-Home News Tribune, 5/27/08
Mark Schauer, Seventh District of Michigan:
"Energy policy is economic policy. It's not just the auto industry, but
it's building solar panels and windmill turbines and biomass and
water-power technology and many others."
-Battle Creek Enquirer, 10/2/08
Dina Titus, Third District of Nevada:
"We have the wind, we have the sun, we have the geothermal. We should
develop it, and by developing it, we will create new good paying, good jobs
with good benefits."
-KTNV TV, 9/18/08
Mary Jo Kilroy, Fifteenth District of Ohio:
"I think it's so vital that we come together as a country to address these
twin issues of energy and global warming. For too long congress has been
gridlocked on global warming. Partisan divide has held up any meaningful
movement to establish long-term energy security - a long term plan for the
energy future for our country."
-PolitickerOH, 6/23/08
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