Holy cow, that's a lot of energy plan!
We all say we want politicians who stick to the issues and have big dreams for America. But, wow.CD7 candidate Herb Rubenstein has collected enough signatures to get on the primary ballot. And he's celebrating by releasing a 15-page comprehensive energy leadership plan. I haven't made it all the way through, but I'm putting a downloadable PDF here. Happy reading.
posted by 300 Spartans Gym at 3:17:00 PM
4 Comments:
Or, you can just read Herb's 10-point (single page) energy plan:
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HERB’S 10 POINT ENERGY PLAN FOR THE U.S.
1. Wise Energy Use in the Home. Promote wise energy use through (a) home energy audits and (b) energy retrofits of homes, apartment buildings, condos, and townhouses to decrease energy use by 30% by 2015. Provide funding and technical assistance to train thousands of new home energy auditors and energy retrofitters.
2. Wise Energy Use in Business and Government. Expand efforts to assist business and local, state, and federal government in using energy more efficiently. Provide technical assistance and financial support for energy audits and energy retrofits. Provide funding to train energy auditors and energy retrofitters.
3. Wise Energy Use in Transportation. (a) Improve fuel efficiency requirements for passenger cars, trucks, vans, busses, and SUVs 1 gallon per mile per year for 10 years and (b)expand America’s mass transit system. Re-instate the gas guzzler tax.
4. Increase Federal Funding for Jobs and Wise Energy Use in America. Increase Federal energy conservation funding from $868M in 2005 (less than 1 cent per person per day) to $5.8B per year ($20.00 per person per year) for five years to promote cost-effective energy conservation education, training, retrofitting houses and businesses and modernizing all government installations, buildings and services to become more energy efficient.
5. Develop a National Renewable Energy R&D Program to tap into to Clean, Reliable, and Affordable Renewable Energy Resources. Fund renewable energy education to help citizens understand their options, among them biodiesel fuel, wind, solar hot water, solar heating, solar electric, passive solar, passive cooling, hydroelectric, hydrogen, ethanol, and methanol. Provide financial incentives to businesses and homeowners to install proven and reliable renewable energy technologies. Fund additional research at NREL here in the 7th Congressional District to improve existing renewable energy technologies and explore new possibilities. Fund training for individuals to train renewable energy installers. Reduce Congressional earmarking of energy R&D projects.
6. Expand Funding Renewable Energy and Jobs. Create a ten-year $10B a year Private Sector/Business Collaboration, along the lines of the Apollo Energy Solutions Implementation Plan to bring to market clean, proven renewable energy solutions for homes and businesses. Funding will support educational programs, incentives, and training. Also triple the current $2B in new and renewable energy research and development, which is down from $4B over the past several years, to $6B. Funding will also support research and development on methane hydrates and clean coal technologies.
7. The Energy Czar. Create a sub-cabinet position, “Energy Czar,” separate from the Secretary of the Department of Energy, who will become the national spokesperson and national coordinator for America’s Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Security Program.
8. Elimination of Subsidies. Phase out all subsidies and tax breaks for oil, gas, coal, and nuclear industries that have not been proven to have strong, positive market effects or have proven to have negative environmental effects. Our own Department of Energy has found these subsidies to be wasteful and ineffective.
9. Improvements in and Expansion of Existing Infrastructure. Encourage public and private investment in safe seaports and additional pipelines, if necessary, to increase America’s ability to import liquefied natural gas to replacing declining domestic supplies. Upgrade the electrical grid to reduce threat of blackouts and to enable greater inflow of electricity generated by renewable energy.
10. Environment, Worker Protection, and Energy Policy. (a) Stay out of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Do not drill for oil or natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other environmentally sensitive areas. (b) Combat Costly Global Warming. Enforce strict environmental controls and set national goals for reducing carbon emissions. Create carbon permits trading market as established by the European Union and currently operating out of Chicago. Encourage exportable technological innovation to reduce carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere. (c) Protect the Environment and Workers. Strict enforcement of safety and environmental laws and regulations. Restore cost-effective mine safety and environmental regulations secretly eliminated by the Bush Administration. Fine energy companies that violate safety laws and environmental regulations. Restore many of the environmental regulations which were in force under the Clinton administration and subsequently abolished by the Bush Administration.
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Okay, it's still kind of long, but this is not a simple issue, nor does is have a simple resolution. Perhaps as the campaign progresses into the summer, Herb will find a way to "boil it down" to a few talking points. But the main message remains: Getting us off the "addiction to oil" to which Bush paid lip service, and moving us toward true energy independence.
Herb has a real health care plan
Herb is the only candidate campaigning against the War in Iraq.
Herb is the only candidate willing to take on the big oil companies
That is why Herb Rubenstein is going to win
First, I would like to thank the dozens of volunteers who worked so hard to collect the signatures to put my name on the August 8 ballot. It is such an honor to have so many people work so hard. I will continue from now until November to speak out against the War in Iraq, for real health care reform and an energy policy that favors consumers not big oil companies.
Thanks to Coloradolib to contributing to the debate of ideas. When Democrats duck the big issues they lose. Only by offering real leadership will Democrats win in CD7 and across the country. Coloradolib provides an invaluable service by focusing on the issues not on personalities. But, since we are talking about personality, I would like to make one more point.
One of my strong beliefs is that public officials should listen to what people have to say.
That includes listening to and accepting criticism be it constructive or otherwise. Going forward I will do a better job listening to voters and hearing their ideas and concerns. I want to thank those on this and other blogs who pointed out some missteps I have made on the campaign trail and I will work hard so that those mistakes will not happen again. To anyone I may have been rude or impolite to please accept my sincere if belated apology.
Herb Rubenstein
Democratic Candidate for Congress
Seventh Congress District
Ps. I'd love to hear your thoughts please go to my website at www.herbforcongress.com or e-mail me at herb@herbforcongress.com or call me as many voters have at 303 279-1878.
Go Herb go! I admire your tenacity and commitment to this race. Best of luck!
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