"Green" is hip in 2008, even in the presidential campaign.  No longer do candidates and their supporters debate whether or not global warming is a real problem, but rather what needs to be done to reverse it.  A candidate who prioritizes the environment is not slandered as a "tree-hugger" or "crunchy," instead the candidates clamor to be perceived as the greenest of the green.

While Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama predictably offer the more stringent and more expensive plans for environmental protection and energy independence, Republican nominee John McCain has come out strongly for environmental stewardship.

The issues of environmental protection, energy independence, and economic concerns intertwine with one another but can generally be categorized into following the issues:

• Climate change
• Dependence on foreign oil
• Environmental stewardship and economic growth
• Nuclear Energy

Climate change

All three candidates cite global warming as one of the greatest challenges of the decade and propose plans to lead the world in reversing it.  Predictably, the platforms of both Democratic candidates include aggressive policies and plans for reducing greenhouse gases, but the emergence of McCain as the presumptive Republican nominee insured that the Democratic candidate would not have a lock on the environmental vote.  

McCain cosponsored the first Senate bill calling for mandatory cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in 2003 and has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's lack of action against climate change.

All three candidates support a carbon emissions cap-and-trade system, though the levels vary.  Obama's and Clinton's plans call for carbon emissions to be reduced to 80% of the 1990 level by 2050.

McCain is a cosponsor of the 2007 Climate and Stewardship Innovation Act, which calls for emissions to be decreased to 30% of 2004 levels by 2050.  All candidates call for credits to be auctioned so that polluters pay for the emissions they release and the revenue would be slated to support the development of clean energy.

Neither McCain not Obama supports the Kyoto Treaty - an international carbon emissions trading market - although McCain would sign the treaty if India and China were included in the pact.  Obama stated he would support establishing a similar trading system with a smaller number of counties.  In contrast, Clinton strongly supports the Kyoto Protocol.

Dependence on foreign oil

With approximately 66% of oil consumed in the US in 2006 being from foreign imports, energy independence is a big issue for the candidates.  McCain announced that energy independence in 5 years is a goal of his and he would make it a "Manhattan Project."  A onetime critic of ethanol, he now lauds it though he opposes government subsidies for it, instead arguing for a market-based incentive.  He calls for adding capacity to the electric grid in the form of nuclear energy and renewable power so that plug-in battery operated cars are a viable alternative.

Obama wants to reduce oil consumption by at least 35% by 2030, offsetting the equivalent of oil we would have imported during that time.  He plans to do this by retooling tax credits and loan guarantees for domestic automakers to better compete with oversees companies making fuel-efficient cars. Within 18 years, he wants fuel efficiency standards to double.  He also supports investing federal resources in ethanol, including tax incentives and investment in biofuel refineries in rural areas.

Clinton proposes a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund, paid for in part by oil companies, for the development of alternative energies.  This would finance one-third of a $150 billion 10-year investment.  She supports incentives that would aid domestic automakers in the form of "Green Bonds" and calls for fuel efficiency standards of 55 miles per gallon by 2030. Clinton would also double federal funding for alternative energy research and development projects but is vehemently opposed to expanding domestic oil drilling.

Environmental stewardship and economic growth

Clinton's plans aim to spur economic growth in the green building industry by retrofitting and modernizing low-income homes to make them more energy efficient. She has sponsored a bill to make all federal buildings carbon neutral by 2030.  This could be accomplished by increasing the use of daylighting, alterative energy sources like solar and win power, and insulating mechanisms to limit the need for temperature regulation.

She also pushes for the expansion of public transportation and the protection of endangered species.

Obama would create a competitive program to encourage new building codes that prioritize energy efficiency and establish a federal investment program to help manufacturing centers modernize and Americans learn new skills for producing green products.  

McCain also believes that stewardship of the environment and economic interests are linked, saying that economic success depends on sustainable energy use and unspoiled natural resources.  He points to Theodore Roosevelt as a hero of his and calls for protection of our national treasures, including the National Park System.

Nuclear energy

Clinton and Obama are reservedly pro nuclear energy, assuming a proper means for disposal of nuclear waste is created. However, both candidates are against the use of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository - the current plan for nuclear disposal.

McCain strongly supports investments in nuclear energy and supports the Yucca Mountain repository.


Regardless of which Democratic candidates emerges from the nomination process, it is certain that there will be much discussion of environmental concerns during the general election.  If the candidates are true to their promises, a major change in the direction of this country in terms of energy use and environmental protection will come in 2009.