A Cleaner and Greener AmericaThroughout his career, John Kerry has been a top leader on the environment, fighting to clean up toxic waste sites, to keep our air and water clean, and to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other pristine wilderness areas. In addition to supporting important environmental initiatives, John Kerry has turned a spotlight on the Bush Administration’s rollbacks of our hard-won environmental gains and their outdated, old-economy notions that our environment must be sacrificed in the name of short-term profit. John Kerry has the courage to take on the polluters that are trying to gut our clean air and water laws. John Kerry has the vision to create a new Manhattan Project to make America independent of Middle East oil in 10 years by creating alternative fuels like ethanol and making cars more efficient. We’ll create half a million new jobs here at home at the same time – and we’ll never have to send our sons and daughters to war for Mideast oil.
America is only as healthy as the communities in which we live, and our economic strength as a nation – and Americans’ deeply rooted love and respect for our magnificent resources – depends on our commitment to clean air, clean water, and our quality of life. Unlike the Bush-Cheney Administration, where special interests rule and the environment suffers, a Kerry Administration will build its policies around citizens’ needs and aspirations. We owe it to our families, our communities, and to our planet to elect a president who will unapologetically pursue our environmental values.
Priorities
Reduce our Dependence on Foreign Oil John Kerry has outlined a comprehensive energy plan that will tap America’s initiative and ingenuity to strengthen our national security, grow our economy, and protect our environment. Kerry’s plan will increase and enhance domestic energy sources and provide incentives to help Americans use energy more cleanly and efficiently. When sixty-five percent of the world’s oil reserves lie beneath the Persian Gulf states and only 3 percent lie beneath America, we cannot drill our way to independence. We can, however, develop and deploy clean energy technologies that will make us more efficient and allow us to capitalize on domestic and renewable sources of energy. John Kerry’s plan for a renewable energy trust fund to invest in the development of renewable energy will reduce our oil dependence by more than 2 million barrels of oil a day – about the same amount we import from the Persian Gulf. Kerry’s plan will also create 500,000 new jobs over the next decade and work toward producing 20 percent of US energy from renewable fuels by 2020.
SENATOR KERRY’S ENERGY PLAN
Energy Plan
Making the United States a Safer, Cleaner and Stronger NationCreates 500,000 New Jobs Over the Next Decade and Provides Assistance to Assure American Industries Will Lead the New Energy Economy.
John Kerry has outlined an energy plan that will reduce our dependence on Mideast oil, assure that American industries and ingenuity will lead the new energy economy, and protect our environment. Americans spend more than $20 billion each year on oil from the Persian Gulf -- often from nations that are unstable and hostile to our interests and our values. Kerry believes that we must end this dangerous dependence because it leaves American security and the American economy vulnerable. Kerry’s plan will reduce oil dependence by two million barrels of oil a day, as much as we currently import from the Middle East.
Priorities
A New ‘Energy Security and Conservation Trust’ Reducing our dependence on oil and building a future of clean and abundant energy are urgent national priorities. John Kerry will create an Energy Security and Conservation Trust Fund capitalized by existing oil and gas royalty revenues and dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of technologies -- such as the manufacture of more efficient cars and trucks, the development of biofuels, and the creation of a hydrogen-based energy economy -- that will reduce America’s dangerous dependence on oil.
Reducing our dependence on oil and building a future of clean and abundant energy are urgent national priorities. John Kerry will create an Energy Security and Conservation Trust Fund capitalized by existing oil and gas royalty revenues and dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of technologies -- such as the manufacture of more efficient cars and trucks, the development of biofuels, and the creation of a hydrogen-based energy economy -- that will reduce America’s dangerous dependence on oil.
Reducing Oil Dependence by Two Million Barrels of Oil a Day As much as we currently import From the Middle East
Americans should drive the cars, SUVs, minivans and trucks of their choice, but that these vehicles can be safer, more efficient and affordable. Kerry believes that we should increase our fuel economy standards to 36 miles per gallon by 2015 and will also provide tax incentives for consumers to buy the vehicles they want and incentives for manufacturers to convert factories to build the more efficient vehicles of the future. Taken together these proposals will enhance national security, strengthen the American auto industry, and protect and create jobs.
A Plan to Use Hydrogen Throughout the Nation By 2020 While John Kerry believes our nation needs a strategy to reduce dependence on oil today, he knows we can harness technological innovation and ingenuity to develop a hydrogen-based economy for the future. Hydrogen has great promise as a clean, domestic, and reliable energy source for the future. It has the potential to power our cars at 100 miles per gallon without pollution and, with the right technology, can be produced efficiently from natural gas and coal. Eventually, John Kerry believes that we can build a truly clean and secure economy based on hydrogen -- a clean fuel that we can eventually get entirely from renewable sources from our farms, the wind, solar energy, hydropower and geothermal sources.
Making Our Homes, Offices, Schools, and Cities More Energy Efficient The American economy is twice as efficient today as it was some 30 years ago. In part, that’s because we accomplish more with less through efficient technologies. But studies by the Department of Energy and other agencies show that we can save significantly more energy through advances in energy efficient technologies – heating, lighting and manufacturing – that only need to be implemented. John Kerry believes that the government should promote the efficient use of energy in the places that we work and live. Kerry will cut the Government’s energy bill 20 percent by 2020 – saving the Federal government $8 billion over the next ten years - and will challenge municipalities, corporations, universities, small businesses, and hospitals to do the same. He will also provide tax credits for energy-efficient buildings and homes.
Assuring 20 Percent of Electricity Comes From Renewable Sources by 2020 John Kerry believes that America needs a national market for electricity produced from renewable energy, such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydrogen. Kerry supports a national goal of producing 20 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020. This standard will encourage the market to respond by finding the most efficient and effective way of meeting that goal through a credit trading system.
A New North American Energy Partnership to Expand the Supply of Natural Gas Natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel, has historically been in abundant supply at a reasonable cost. However, many fear that supply shortages may cause persistently high prices over the next several years. High prices for this fuel hurt lower and middle class families since heat and power are essential services. American families will bear the cost of increased prices for electricity and heating and for goods produced using natural gas. Natural gas, for example, is used in producing fertilizer and other products and as a fuel for industrial processes and producing electricity. These higher costs will hinder economic recovery. John Kerry believes it is imperative that we begin to address not only the supply and demand sides of the equation, but the short-term and long-term challenges for natural gas as well.
Assuring a Fair Marketplace
Providing Effective Market Monitoring and Enforcement.While much of the expected pressure on the natural gas market is due to supply shortages, there have been abuses in the market for natural gas – such as alleged manipulation of capacity in the western markets, inaccurate filing of trade data – that ultimately have an adverse effect on the prices consumers pay. John Kerry will make sure that any abuses are dealt with effectively and prevented from reoccurring. This will require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to be more diligent and aggressive in pursuing anti-competitiveness practices.
Pursuing Opportunities to Tap Natural Gas in Environmentally Safe Ways
North American Energy Initiative. John Kerry believes that the United States should reach out and develop a long-term partnership with our immediate neighbors and friends Canada and Mexico to develop and expand North America's robust energy supplies. By looking beyond our borders, as well as to our nation's huge stranded gas supplies on the North Slope of Alaska, we have the potential to secure long-term energy supplies that help meet our demand for energy. For example, Canada has huge stranded natural gas capacity that has no way to reach major markets, and Mexico likewise lacks an adequate energy infrastructure to allow it to tie into major North American energy markets. Presidential leadership must be interjected into this equation, and John Kerry would make this a priority issue with our North American neighbors.
Developing Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline. There are 35 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas reserves on the North Slope of Alaska that have no way to get to markets in the lower 48 states. John Kerry believes that we must build the Alaska pipeline to expand natural gas as a resource and provide important jobs for American workers. As President, John Kerry would bring together the States, Native Americans, producers, pipeline companies, Canada and other interested parties to make this a domestic priority, including providing appropriate regulatory streamlining to get this project built.
Encouraging Development in the Gulf of Mexico. John Kerry supports developing natural gas sources in the Gulf of Mexico on areas already open for drilling. He supports temporary incentives that encourage development in this area.
Assuring Natural Gas Can Be Delivered – Safely and Reliably
Enhancing Infrastructure to Help Supply Natural Gas More Effectively. We need a domestic pipeline infrastructure that is capable of delivering natural gas where it is needed, when it is needed, in a safe and reliable manner. For example, the lack of pipeline infrastructure may be impeding development of natural gas on public and private lands on the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains, which are believed to hold very significant reserves of natural gas. Over 60 percent of the natural gas reserves in this region are available for lease under standard lease terms, according to a recent government report. John Kerry’s plan would ensure that we develop needed pipeline infrastructure and supplies in appropriate areas in an environmentally sound and safe manner.
Improving Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Transportation Systems. There are ways in which we can improve our ability to import natural gas from reliable foreign sources. The current infrastructure for importing natural gas from overseas is limited as the natural gas must be liquefied at super cold temperatures for shipping overseas and returned to gas form before it can be put in the domestic pipeline system. There are currently only four terminals in the U.S. where liquefied natural gas is delivered and these facilities often raise challenging local issues. John Kerry would support new technologies under development to address some of the local concerns about this transportation system, including development of ship-based regasification systems that would allow the LNG to be regasified offshore and moved to shore by connecting to underwater pipelines.
Increase the Efficiency of Natural Gas Use. Advanced technologies, commercially available today, can dramatically increase the efficiency of natural gas use for power generation and end use applications, including heating and cooling. For example, combined heat and power systems which provide both electric and thermal energy to commercial and industrial users can achieve efficiencies greater than 70%, compared with power plants that operate often at half that level. And gas-fired appliances available today can substantially cut homeowners natural gas bills which may hit record levels this winter.
Redirecting Unwarranted Subsidies to Invest in the Energy Technologies of the Future John Kerry’s plan does not necessarily spend more than the Republican energy bill, he just has different priorities. While John Kerry wants to invest in renewable energy that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, the Republican bills advocate big subsidies for large, well-financed energy companies. The House Republican energy bill authorizes billions in new spending and tax cuts for the industry. The Senate bill also has subsidies for the industry. John Kerry believes we need an energy policy that puts federal resources into creating the technologies that will create energy security, create jobs and protect the environment.
At the same time, John Kerry believes that the nation can save money through targeted policies to improve the management of energy and public resources. For example, we can modernize the sale of mineral rights on public land by ending the sale of public land rights at $5 per acre and save $519 million over five years. John Kerry’s plan to cut electricity in the Federal government would save $8 billion over the next ten years. And John Kerry would close a loophole that allows small-business owners to deduct $100,000 for luxury sport-utility vehicles through a law meant to benefit farmers and others from being penalized by the luxury tax when they purchase pickup trucks and tractors.
Making Coal Part of the 21st Century Energy Solution For too long there has been a deadlock between those who support using coal and those who support improving the environment. George Bush tells coal producing regions to fight environmental protections because they will hurt the industry. Others believe there is no future for coal. The reality, however, is that coal is an abundant domestic fuel that is used to produce more than one-half of our electric power. John Kerry believes that coal should be part of the solution to our energy and environmental challenges and that we need to forge a new way to harness technology to develop and deploy clean electric power from coal. At the same time, John Kerry believes that we need clear benchmarks and a flexible framework by which to measure the emissions performance of existing and new uses of coal.
Making Coal Part of the Clean Energy Solution and Strengthen the Economy in States and Regions Engaged in Coal Production and Use. John Kerry believes that we need leadership to lower the four leading power plant emissions – nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide. He also is committed to helping the coal industry and the communities that support it be part of America’s energy future. He wants to make the coal industry part of the effort in developing and implementing new cleaner coal technology. John Kerry believes we must invest $10 billion over the next decade – a five-fold increase – to help transition from the current generation of older and dirtier coal plants to cleaner and more advanced coal-fired power plants Kerry believes we must also invest in new research that can make sure clean coal is a major contributor in meeting future energy needs, including playing an important part in the production of hydrogen. This approach will be good for the environment and public health and will assure coal workers and their families are an important part of the next generation of energy technology for our nation.
A Commitment to Cleaner and Greener Communities John Kerry believes that addressing the environmental needs of our communities will improve the economic vitality and quality of life of the places where we live and work. Kerry will fight for “Green and Clean Communities” by removing the threat of toxics from our communities, reinvigorating the Superfund cleanup program, improving our parks, and taking on traffic congestion and sprawl. As part of this commitment, Kerry will create a Toxics Task Force at the EPA that will identify the top toxics threats to our citizens and develop an action plan to address them, and he will work to ensure that every American child has access to a clean and safe neighborhood ball field or park.
Fighting for Environmental Justice For too long, low income and minority communities have borne a disproportionate burden of air pollution, water pollution and other environmental hazards. John Kerry will make environmental justice a national priority. He will create Environmental Empowerment Zones to ensure that environmental justice is considered in decisions that affect these communities and, more importantly, to empower communities from the ground up for positive change. He will also create a national health tracking system for chronic diseases and environmental health hazards. And, John Kerry will reinvigorate action on environmental justice at the federal level.
SENATOR KERRY’S PLAN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Kerry's Plan for Environmental Justice and Healthy Communities
Calls for Making Environmental Justice a National PriorityOn October 1, on the site of a formerly contaminated housing project in West Dallas, Texas, John Kerry called for making environmental justice a national priority. The housing project has been rid of lead contamination and on which new apartment buildings are being constructed. Over the past three decades America has made great strides in reducing pollution and safeguarding public health. But for too long, too many low income and minority communities have borne a disproportionate burden of air pollution, water pollution and other environmental hazards. As a result, quality of life is lower in these communities and residents face greater risk of respiratory illness, heart disease and other ailments. Kerry held up the Greenleaf Village as an example of what should and can happen in environmentally impacted communities.
Environmental Justice is a Well Documented Problem. The problem of environmental injustice has been well documented. In 1983, the General Accounting Office determined that most landfills in 8 southern states were sited near mostly minority communities. A 1987 study by the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice linked income and race to the location of waste facilities nationally. These findings spurred a federal investigation by the first Bush Administration that also concluded in 1992 that the poor and minorities face greater risk of hazardous waste exposure and sustain more environmental costs than other populations.
Pollution Takes Heavy Toll on Health. Several studies have confirmed the heavy toll pollution takes on public health. For example, air pollution contributes to asthma, other respiratory and heart ailments. Only last year the National Institutes of Health issued a study concluding that years of exposure to the high concentrations of soot and dust from cars, power plants and factories in some metropolitan areas significantly increases the risk of dying from lung cancer and heart disease. The American Lung Association estimates that air pollution from power plants alone triggers 600,000 asthma attacks and causes 30,000 premature deaths annually.
John Kerry proposed a plan to make environmental justice a national priority:
CREATE ENVIRONMENTAL EMPOWERMENT ZONES John Kerry proposed creating Environmental Empowerment Zones to ensure that environmental justice is considered in decisions that affect these communities and, more importantly, to empower communities from the ground up for positive change. By empowering local officials and citizen leaders, Environmental Empowerment Zones will overcome economic, civic and cultural barriers and help ensure that no community will be forced to live with a dirty and unhealthy environment. These zones will be designated areas where the federal government will make sure its resources are backing up the fight for environmental justice and where communities will get help to build a better environment for themselves from the ground up.
CREATE A HEALTH TRACKING SYSTEMJohn Kerry also pledged to create a national health tracking system for chronic diseases and environmental health hazards. The proposal calls for tracking asthma and other debilitating illnesses linked to environmental causes that are not now monitored in any comprehensive manner. It would place an environmental health officer in each state and coordinate pollution and disease data nationally.
GIVE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE A STRONGER FEDERAL ROLEJohn Kerry will reinvigorate action on environmental justice at the federal level. He proposed creating a new Assistant Administrator position for Environmental Justice at the EPA and will revive the Office of Environmental Justice. Today, this office is under-staffed, under-funded, and undermined on a daily basis. Kerry will bring life back to this office so that it can serve as a resource and advocate for community activists all over America.
John Kerry will also build on President Clinton’s 1994 Executive Order to include environmental justice in laws, regulations and policies. President Clinton required all federal agencies to address environmental injustice, past, present and future and required federal agencies to develop strategies to bring justice to Americans who are suffering disproportionately from environmental impacts. President Bush pledged to uphold this Clinton initiative but he has fallen short of that goal. A recent report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found fault with four federal agencies for failing to adequately include environmental justice in their work and program goals. As President, John Kerry will enforce this order and ensure that low-income communities and communities of color have access to information about their environment and that have an opportunity to participate in shaping government policies that affect their health and their environment.
Enter into a 'Conservation Covenant' with the American People John Kerry will enter into a “Conservation Covenant” with the American people to tread lightly on the public lands and protect and restore our nation’s parks and other treasures for the benefit of future generations. As part of the covenant, John Kerry will implement the Endangered Species Act in a cooperative manner that extends the benefits of wildlife and habitat protection to public and private lands. He will put new teeth into requirements that private companies who lease public lands return the land to its original state. The Covenant will reinvest royalties obtained from extracting resources from public lands back into protecting our lands, and require that before remote public lands are opened up to new resource development, the federal government evaluate the long term economic and environmental costs associated with such actions.
Protect our Health by Reducing Dangerous Emissions John Kerry understands the connection between air pollution and public health. As President, he will immediately reverse the Bush-Cheney rollbacks of our nation’s Clean Air laws, plug loopholes in the laws, and vigorously enforce them. He will take bold steps to protect the health of all Americans – particularly our most vulnerable seniors and children – by adopting an aggressive program to meet ozone and air quality standards, stop acid rain, and reduce mercury emissions. His plan also includes addressing global warming emissions through a combination of innovative programs that will drive technology change and create jobs.
Restoring America's Waters Our nation has fallen far short of the Clean Water Act’s goal of making our waters “drinkable, swimable, and fishable.” John Kerry will lead a “Restoring America’s Waters” Campaign to clean up our nation’s waters, protect communities’ fresh water supplies, and help communities reclaim their riverfronts and lake-fronts as new centers of economic growth.
Reassert US Leadership in Global Environmental Progress John Kerry understands that some of our most serious environmental challenges – and opportunities – are taking place on an international stage and that they require American leadership in the international community. Unlike the Bush Administration, John Kerry will not abdicate this responsibility and opportunity. When John Kerry is president, the U.S. will reengage in the development of an international climate change strategy to address global warming, and identify workable responses that provide opportunities for American technology and know-how. And a Kerry Administration will meet new challenges associated with the global exploitation of marine resources and the global crisis of access to fresh water supplies.
Promoting Smart Growth and Livable CommunitiesJohn Kerry recognizes that local communities are struggling with how to address issues of traffic congestion and sprawl. A Kerry Administration will work with states and communities to ensure they have the tools and resources they need to tackle these difficult problems. Kerry will ensure that we have “Clean and Green Communities” throughout America by coordinating federal transportation policies, federal housing incentives, federal employment opportunities and the use of federal dollars to acquire parks and open space.
Priorities 1) Provide Information and Assistance to Local Governments It falls to local communities to create the regulations that actually control the sprawl that most people notice, but the federal government also has a role by providing small matching grants to local and state governments so that they can better plan for development, and improve their land-use regulations.
2) Remove the Incentives in Federal Regulations and Tax Policy that Encourage Sprawl Government policies often create conditions that encourage sprawl:
• We build bigger and better roads that only serve to move people from suburbs and beyond the suburbs in largely rural areas known as exurbs to inner cities.
• We allow tax breaks of up to $2,280 per year for people to drive alone to work.
• We provide better incentives for people buying new homes than older ones.
Although federal government policies can encourage sprawl, it is state and local governments that must deal with the implications of sprawl: sprawl leads to demand for new schools, new water infrastructure, new local roads, new police and fire stations, and other public services. States and towns must raise their property taxes to provide these services. To help relieve the burden on states and towns John Kerry will modify federal regulations to eliminate incentives that encourage sprawl.
3) Use Federal Policies to Lead by Example and Improve Livability The federal government is America’s biggest landowner, landlord, and employer. We have the opportunity to manage ourselves in a manner that benefits the local communities in which we serve. For example, John Kerry's administration will ensure that the U.S. Postal Service works with local communities to abide by a community's plans for growth management, land use, traffic management, and environmental protection.
Additionally, Federal facilities should be located in downtown areas to strengthen the economic base of cities, towns and rural communities and make them more attractive places to live and work. Locating Federal facilities in downtown areas will also support historic development patterns, limit sprawl, and have other important environmental benefits.
4) Protecting Open Space President Lyndon Johnson pioneered passage of the Land and Water Conservation Fund – a program which provides matching grants to States and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas and facilities. The program is intended to create and maintain a nationwide legacy of high quality recreation areas and facilities and to stimulate non-federal investments in the protection and maintenance of recreation resources across the United States.
John Kerry has fought for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and he will ensure that ample funds are available to protect threatened land and water resources, to invest in urban parks, and to provide recreational opportunities for all Americans. John Kerry will work with the Congress to hard-wire this funding so that Americans can count on its availability to invest in conservation needs without relying on the uncertainty of the annual Congressional appropriations process.
5) Guaranteeing that Our Kids have Access to Ball Fields and Parks John Kerry believes that there is a straight line between investing in our environment and improving our quality of life. All of us remember how, as kids, we enjoyed joining our family and friends in local parks, in exploring trails through the woods, and in playing on ball fields near our homes. John Kerry’s commitment to “Clean and Green Communities” means that every child in America should have access to a convenient, clean and safe ball field or park. The Kerry Administration will back this commitment to revitalize and expand our parks and recreation areas by adequately funding programs like the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery program (UPARR) and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Success of the program will be measured by a simple test: do our kids have access to clean and safe ball fields and parks?
6) Federal Transportation Policy that Works for Communities Federal transportation policy is a powerful tool for building more livable communities - those where people, businesses and neighborhoods have access to a variety of transportation choices. Transportation plays a major role in quality of life, influencing everything from access to economic opportunities to environmental quality and community safety. Having transportation choices means having the flexibility to use transportation dollars to best fit local needs such as building light rail and streetcar systems, redesigning neighborhood streets and sidewalks to be more pedestrian friendly, or reducing environmental damage caused by road projects. John Kerry will advance a federal transportation policy that gives communities this flexibility.
John Kerry will also improve the transportation planning and decision-making process by strengthening the role of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and increasing the opportunities for meaningful public participation from important and diverse community voices. Finally, John Kerry will ensure that transportation investments do not harm the environment but instead serve as opportunities to improve air and water quality, maintain critical animal habitat and crossings, preserve open space, and protect endangered species.
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/energy/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
