Read the Lamont Plan for Change:
Where Ned stands on the issues:
- The War in Iraq
- National Security (Speech)
- Trade and Jobs
- Health Care
- Social Security/Senior Issues
- Education
- Energy Independence/Environment
- Civil Liberties
- Reproductive Freedom
- Immigration
- Infrastructure
- Veterans Issues
- Equal Rights
- Marriage Equality & LGBT Issues
- Detainee Bill
- Situation in the Middle East
- Situation in Darfur
Energy Independence and the Environment
Global warming is perhaps the most serious threat facing our planet and our country today, and we need a Senator who is serious about protecting it in the arenas that really matter – the courts and the federal government.
As your Senator, I will speak out against the Bush administration’s attempts to pack the courts with right-wing, conservative judges. The Bush administration and their allies have launched a high-level assault on the environment and Congress has done little to stop it. We did not have to wait for Alito and Roberts to issue their recent anti-wetlands decisions to know they would be disastrous for the environment. As an appellate judge, Alito made several troubling rulings which negated the ability of the federal government to regulate environmental issues as well as the ability of individuals to take action on their own.
If a Senator is to truly protect the environment, he must show leadership and fight for courts that show respect for the issue, and for the very real threat to our planet. Connecticut’s Inland Wetland and Watercourse Act, for instance, is a model for the nation in working in concert with the Federal Clean Water Act. We must be vigilant in protecting these laws.
Following the tragedy of 9/11, America had a unique opportunity to begin liberating itself from dependence upon foreign oil, which would not only strengthen our position in the war on terror but also reduce greenhouse emissions and their disastrous environmental effects.
Instead, Congress passed the 2005 Bush/Cheney Energy Bill, universally decried by environmentalists, which features billions in subsidies to big oil and does little for conservation and energy efficiency. Senator Joe Lieberman was the only New England Democrat to vote for this bill, which also limits Connecticut’s ability to prevent the siting of a large liquefied natural gas facility in the middle of long Island Sound.
Clean energy is not only important to our economic and national security, but the future of the planet hangs in the balance. The United States, with 4.6% of the world’s population, consumes 21.8% of the world’s energy. By 2025, China will double its oil consumption, and India’s oil imports are slated to increase to more than three times their current level.
I support an overarching plan for clean energy and energy independence: basic research, higher mileage per gallon standards, HOMER appliance and insulation standards, disincentives for high polluting and gas guzzling users and incentives for high mileage, and clean energy alternatives. Energy independence and the environment must be an integral part of every public policy decision. That means no drilling in ANWR (a very short term solution to a very long-term problem), but incentives to produce clean energy and improve efficiency.
Even those small things in the right direction in the Energy Bill could be much better. Rather than prescriptive standards, I would support performance standards to get us where we need to be in terms of conservation and efficiency.
Every New England Democrat except for Senator Lieberman understood that the energy bill was the opportunity for environmentalists to fight for a strong federal initiative to promote conservation; treating conservation separately weakened our hand and hurt the environmental cause.
I will fight to include the environment as a major factor in every public policy decision, and to recognize the importance of federal regulatory and judicial appointments in protecting the environment.
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