US Senator Barack Obama Monday said he would "make dirty energy
expensive" if he is elected president in 2008, and that he would consider a
banning "new traditional coal facilities."
Obama, an Illinois Democrat, made the comments in what his campaign
dubbed a "major policy address" on energy issues and global warming in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Obama promised act aggressively to combat global warming by moving to
"phase out [the] carbon-based economy that's causing our changing climate."
Specifically, he called for an 80% reduction in industrial GHG emissions by
2050.
The candidate said electric utilities and other industries would not
receive cost-free emissions allowances under his plan, as they would under
many of the global-warming bills that have been introduced in Congress.
"Businesses don't own the sky, the public does, and if we want them to
stop polluting it, we have to put a price on all pollution," Obama said,
acknowledging that "there is no doubt that this transition will be costly in
the short term."
Obama also said that as president, he would call for US power companies
to generate at least 25% of their electricity via wind, solar and other
renewable means by 2025. That is more aggressive than that 15% renewable
portfolio standard that the Senate considered--but failed to adopt--as part of
a major energy bill earlier this summer.
Obama said that "once we make dirty energy expensive," his administration
would invest $150 billion over the next decade to ensure the development of
renewable energy, including wind, solar and cellulosic ethanol. He also said
the US should explore "safer ways to use nuclear power," though he stressed
that there should be "no short cuts or regulatory loopholes" in the permitting
process.
Obama trails Senator Hillary Clinton in most public-opinion polls
tracking the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But Obama has
raised more money than any of the other candidates.
--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com