How Green is Your Candidate?

This presidential election, the US is finally assured an administration that recognizes the reality and peril of the climate change threat. Both Obama and McCain have addressed climate change as a real concern and presented proposals that go well beyond the Bush-administration’s current policies. Both candidates also recognize that climate change is a global problem requiring global solutions, and have pledged to work with "other countries" to address this challenge.  

Cap and Trade program

Simply stated, cap-and-trade systems offer financial incentives for achieving emissions reductions. Governments set limits (or caps) on the amount of pollutants that can be emitted. Companies or other groups are issued emission permits and are required to hold an equivalent number of allowances (or credits) which represent the right to emit a specific amount. The total amount of allowances and credits cannot exceed the cap, limiting total emissions to that level. Companies that need to increase their emissions must buy credits from those who pollute less. This transfer of allowances is referred to as a trade. In effect, the buyer is paying a charge for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions by more than was needed. Thus, theoretically, those that can easily reduce emissions most cheaply will do so, achieving the pollution reduction at the lowest possible cost to society.

Obama

• Supports a cap and trade system to cut U.S. emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, in line with the scientific consensus for avoiding the worst consequences of global warming.
• Would auction off 100% of emissions permits, making polluters pay for the CO2 they emit. The revenue raised (an estimated $30-$50 billion a year) would go toward developing and deploying clean energy technology and creating millions of “green collar” jobs.

McCain

• Supports a cap and trade system to cut U.S. emissions 6o% below 1990 levels by 2050.
• Would allot credits to existing polluters rather than auctioning them off, though down the line he would phase in auctions of such credits.
• Would allow domestic and international offsets as a form of compliance.

Offshore Drilling

This summer the cost of oil peaked above $140 a barrel, nearly double the price of a year earlier. Gas prices followed suit, prompting President Bush to call for lifting a nearly three decade long federal moratorium on offshore oil exploration, arguing that taking action to increase domestic oil supplies will help drive down prices.

Americans' anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline has driven greater public support for renewed offshore drilling. A Gallup poll in May found that 57% of respondents favored such drilling while 41 percent were opposed.

But analysts say that renewed offshore drilling would have little impact on gas prices anytime soon since it would take at least a decade for oil companies to obtain permits, procure equipment, and do the exploration necessary to get the oil out of the ground, most industry analysts say. And even then, they add, the amount of new oil produced would probably be too small to significantly affect world oil prices.

Expanded offshore exploration also carries with it some environmental risks, from oil spills to destruction of habitat to vibrations that damage sea life, which environmentalists say could have catastrophic consequences that far outweigh any potential benefit from further offshore drilling. But other analysts say that improved technology means the risks are much smaller than a generation ago.

In any case, increased American production from offshore drilling would not necessarily mean lower prices for American consumers because oil is a global commodity whose price is set by global supply and demand.

Obama

• Generally opposes opening additional U.S. waters to offshore oil drilling but would consider it as part of a compromise to achieve broader energy policy goals which include massive investments in renewable and alternative energy.

McCain

• Calls for lifting the federal ban on offshore oil drilling in new areas.

Renewable energy

The surge in the price of oil, and consequent steep increase in gas and heating oil prices, has many arguing that this is ample evidence that the U.S. needs to embrace more efficient and alternative technologies that cost more up front, but pay themselves off by using less energy over time. As a result, renewable energy has become a major issue in the 2008 election.

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources that are naturally replenished, i.e. renewable. Examples of renewable energy include sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat (energy generated by heat stored in the earth, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground, in the atmosphere and oceans). Renewable energy technologies include solar power, win power, hydroelectricity, biomass and biofuels.

Obama

• Calls for getting 10% of U.S. electricity from renewables by 2012, and 25% by 2025.
• Proposes investing $150 billion over 10 years in renewable, advanced biofuels, and other clean technologies. Says this will create 5 million green jobs.

McCain

• Supports renewables but has not offered specific targets.
• Recently the Associated Press noted that “McCain has not shown up for eight Senate votes last year and this year to extend [renewable energy] tax credits, which expire at the end of this year. The last such vote was July 30.” In August, when McCain was asked about those missed votes, he said, “I have a long record of that support of alternate energy. I come from a state where we have sunshine 360 days a year … I’ve always been for all of those and I have not missed any crucial vote.”…

Ethanol

Ethanol, a corn-based form of renewable energy and a domestic source of automobile fuel, is so controversial, it deserves its own category.

Corn-based ethanol is only marginally less polluting than oil because of all the fertilizer and pesticides required to produce the corn used to produce this energy source.

Congressional mandates for corn-based ethanol led Heartland farmers to plant more acres of corn than at any time in decades. This contributed to a near-record dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, a lifeless area the size of the wtate of New Jersey that forms when fertilizer discharges from Mississippi Valley farms.

In spite of this, ethanol is seen as a fuel of the future and a stepping stone to renewable fuels made from better stocks. The good news is that cellulosic ethanol can be made from grasses, waste wood and other crops that do not require such extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Obama

• Acknowledges that cellulosic ethanol is a more alternative fuel but has been criticized for taking cues from powerful corn growers who have contributed to his campaign.
• Says he would maintain subsidies and tariffs that support the industry.
• The detailed energy plan he published early in his campaign included the goal of producing 60 billion gallons by 2030 and transforming the entire U.S. vehicle fleet to run on ethanol blends of gasoline.

McCain

• Has talked about opposing subsidies for corn growers.
• Strongly opposes the tariff on Brazilian ethanol, which protects corn growers.
• In general,  he supports the use of ethanol and the development of cellulosic ethanol, but doesn’t lay out many specifics about the issue in his energy plan.

Nuclear Power

For years environmentalists have opposed nuclear energy, focusing on the reality that nuclear waste remains dangerous for thousands of years and there’s no attractive way to store or recycle it. But now, many green thinkers have changed their tune, arguing that the power’s benefits outweigh its costs in an era of global warming.

Unlike coal-fired power plants, which produce almost 50% of all electricity in the U.S., nuclear power plants operate without producing significant amounts of carbon dioxide or other air pollutants.  But, building a nuclear power plant costs roughly four times as much as a coal-fired plant, as much as $8 billion.

Presently, nuclear power plants produce nearly 20% of the nation’s electricity at 104 plants. And as many as 19 projects are slated for the building of new reactors in 15 states.

Obama

• Doesn’t oppose the use of nuclear energy but says it’s not a great option because of safety and storage issues.
• Says we should explore nuclear power as part of his energy plan which focuses on renewables.

McCain

• Has made nuclear power a central part of his energy platform by calling for the construction of 45 new plants by 2030, ultimately increasing to 100 new plants.
• Calls for government support for the nuclear industry.

Sources:

The Daily Green

Grist

The Boston Globe

On the Issues