State of California secondary Archives: on Energy & Oil

Jimmy Gomez: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020

David Hadley: Ban off-shore oil drilling; require 50% wind and solar

In the Assembly, David Hadley was one of only two legislators in his party who voted to require 50% of all electrical power to be generated from green sources like solar and wind.

David Hadley strongly favors keeping a ban on off-shore drilling and making sure oil companies adhere to strict safety standards-- that's why he voted to mandate that coastal oil pipelines must have automatic shut-off valves and modern leak detection equipment.

Nanette Barragan: Climate change is an urgent environmental problem

Jon Huntsman: Gas is $13/gal if we count cost of troop deployments

Q: Everybody would like $2 gas, but is it realistic for a president to promise that?

HUNTSMAN: Of course not. We live in the free-market economy. I'm not sure that dictating prices is going to get you anywhere. But let's face the reality of where we are. Presidential leadership [means] tell us where we think we can find that which we have and convert it into jobs and expanding our industrial base, and reminding the American people that they're not paying $4 per gallon for gas. When you add up the cost of troop deployments, when you add up the cost of keeping the sea lanes open for the importation of imported oil, the bulk and distribution and terminal costs, it's $13 a gallon. And I say the American people have had enough. We need a president who's going to provide a little bit of leadership in getting us some direction and opening up the opportunities.

Michele Bachmann: Goal is to keep gas prices low, like $1.79 a gallon

We could also see created over 50 percent more American energy production. And we could also see $800 billion more revenue coming into the United States government.

Don't forget the day that President Obama took office, gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. It's entirely possible for us to get back to inexpensive energy.

The problem is, energy is too high. Let's have a goal of bringing it down because every time gasoline increases 10 cents a gallon, that's $14 billion in economic activity that every American has taken out of their pockets. This is a great solution, and this is the place to start with American job creation.

Rick Perry: Don't put economy in jeopardy based on unsettled science

PERRY: The science is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans' economy in jeopardy based on scientific theory that's not settled yet, to me, is just nonsense. I mean, Galileo got outvoted for a spell. But asking us to cut back in areas that would have monstrous economic impact on this country is not good economics and I will suggest to you is not necessarily good science. Find out what the science truly is before you start putting the American economy in jeopardy.

Q: Are there specific theories that you've found especially compelling?

PERRY: Let me tell you what I find compelling, is what we've done in the state of Texas. Not by some scientist somewhere saying, "Here is what we think is happening out there." The science is not settled on whether or not the climate change is being impacted by man to the point where we're going to put America's economics in jeopardy.

Ron Paul: I can get you a gallon of gas for a silver dime

Q: Everybody would like $2 gas, but is it realistic for a president to promise that?

PAUL: I do want to address the subject of $2 oil or gasoline, because I can do it much better than that. I can get you a gallon of gasoline for a dime. You can buy a gallon of gasoline today for a silver dime. A silver dime is worth $3.50. It's all about inflation and too many regulations.

Barbara Boxer: Work with China on global warming, but California leads

Q: Senator Boxer, you said that if California doesn't take the lead, then China and others will. But doesn't Ms. Fiorina have a point when she says that the global approach would be more effective?

Boxer: Our president has met with China; they've reached some tentative agreements. The fact is, we have to act. California is not a state that sits around and lets anybody else lead. That's why I so strongly oppose Prop 23 [which would block AB 32]. It is shocking to me to see someone try to get to the US Senate from California, who would turn her back on the environment.

Carly Fiorina: Dealing with global warming requires a global solution

Fiorina: We are falling behind in energy innovation. We spend less on energy Research & Development than many other nations in the world. We must be the leader in innovation, and we must be the leader in clean green technologies. And we are not on a path to do so, because our federal government doesn't spend as much on federally-funded energy R&D. Our R&D tax credit is now 17th in the world. However, the reason I believe AB 32 is a bad idea is because to deal with global warming requires a serious global solution. Scientists agree that a single state--or a single nation--acting alone can have no impact on global warming. I would immediately engage in serious bilateral discussions with China, a nation that uses more coal than we do, but also that researches more into clean coal.

Barbara Boxer: Prop. 23: California clean energy policy creates jobs here

But Fiorina declined to take a position on Proposition 23, the November ballot measure that would suspend California's landmark global warming law until unemployment drops to 5.5% or lower for four consecutive quarters.

Boxer seized on her opponent's reticence, using it as an excuse to return to Fiorina's record at HP: "If you can't take a stand on Prop. 23 I don't know what you will take a stand on," Boxer said. "If we overturn California's clean energy policies that's going to mean that China takes the lead away from us with solar, that Germany takes the lead away from us with wind. I want those jobs created here in America."

Carly Fiorina: Examine the science; US can't act alone on global warming

But Fiorina declined to take a position on Proposition 23, the November ballot measure that would suspend California's landmark global warming law until unemployment drops to 5.5% or lower for four consecutive quarters.

Boxer seized on her opponent's reticence: "If you can't take a stand on Prop. 23 I don't know what you will take a stand on," Boxer said. "I want those [clean energy] jobs created here in America."