I have also worked to
advance a balanced energy policy that will increase our energy
independence, create jobs, and provide cleaner, more reliable energy. I
support policies to diversify our energy supplies by investing in
renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar, developing advanced
energy technologies such as clean coal and hydrogen fuel cells, and
promoting environmentally responsible recovery of oil and gas resources.
We also need to take steps to use energy more efficiently, in our cars,
homes, and offices. Taken together, these steps will help to reduce the
high energy prices facing New Yorkers and the rest of the country and move
us away from dependence on foreign energy sources.
Clean Air
While we have made
major strides in reducing air pollution over the last three decades, much
work remains to be done. Recent medical evidence strongly links air
pollution to increased incidence of asthma attacks, heart attacks,
cardiopulmonary disease, cancer, and premature death.
The most vulnerable among
us—children, the elderly, and those with existing respiratory problems—are
most susceptible to air pollution. That is why I believe it is more
important than ever that we reduce harmful air pollution and ensure that
all New Yorkers have clean, safe air to breathe.
To reduce air pollution from power plants—one of the
largest sources of air pollution—I am a cosponsor of The Clean Power
Act. This bipartisan bill would require power plants to significantly
reduce harmful emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and
carbon dioxide – emissions that contribute to poor air quality, smog, acid
rain, global warming, and contamination of fish.
Environmental Health
We are exposed to
literally thousands of chemicals in our daily lives. Scientific research
has confirmed links between pollutants such as lead, mercury, PCBs and a
wide range of health problems. But many of the links between chemical
exposure and disease remain unexplored and poorly understood.
In order to improve our understanding so we can prevent
diseases caused by environmental factors, I have introduced the
Coordinated Environmental Public Health Network Act. This bill would
expand on bio-monitoring work already underway to determine which
chemicals are accumulating in our bodies. It would also create a network
that would link disease registries, which contain information about the
incidence of chronic diseases, to databases containing information about
pollution.
Climate Change
The scientific
consensus on climate change is increasingly clear: unless we act to reduce
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the planet will
continue to warm over the next century, with widespread and potentially
devastating effects. These potential effects include more frequent extreme
weather events, and the wider spread of diseases such as West Nile,
Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and malaria.
Potential
impacts in New York include coastal flooding due to rising sea levels in
communities on Long Island, warming in the Adirondacks, where tourism and
a way of life depend on cold and snow in the winter, and damage to New
York’s agriculture industry.
Given the
scientific evidence that we have and the potential consequences of
continued warming, I strongly believe this nation needs to take sensible
first steps to slow and ultimately reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and
other gases that contribute to climate change. To that end, I support
investment in renewable energy, carbon sequestration, and the flexible,
market-based emissions reduction approach in the
Climate Stewardship Act of 2003
proposed by Senators Lieberman and McCain. I also support funding for
research and development of carbon sequestration technologies as well as
advanced clean coal technologies.
Clean Water
New York is home to
some of the most spectacular waterways in the nation, which provide
endless recreational, environmental, tourism, and other economic
opportunities. In the 109th Congress, I became the senior Democrat on the
Fisheries, Wildlife and Water subcommittee of the Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee. As ranking member, I will continue to work to
improve our efforts to protect New York’s water.
In 2004, I secured Senate passage of a bill to fund watershed protection
measures to protect
New York City’s
water supplies. In addition, I helped to pass through the Senate two other
important water resource bills: the Great Lakes Legacy Act and the Daniel
Patrick Moynihan Lake Champlain Basin Act. I am currently working to pass
legislation to protect Long Island Sound from dumping contaminated
materials, and to provide funding for watershed protection efforts in the
Finger Lakes.
Cleaning Up Toxic Waste
In 1978, the tragic
consequences of the dumping of toxic wastes burst onto the national
consciousness with the discovery that residents of Love Canal, NY were
being exposed to hazardous chemicals buried underneath their homes by the
Hooker Chemical Company. In large part, the Love Canal crisis led to the
passage in 1980 of the federal Superfund law. Although the Love Canal
cleanup was recently completed, many sites remain to be cleaned up under
the federal Superfund program. However, the pace of cleanups has slowed
during the Bush Administration because they have allowed the polluter-pays
tax on oil and chemical producers to lapse. I have cosponsored legislation
that would replenish the trust fund so we can clean up abandoned Superfund
sites in New York as soon as possible.
I have also
worked to promote the cleanup and redevelopment of less-contaminated sites
known as brownfields. These sites sit idle in many communities because of
concerns about the cost and potential liability associated with cleaning
them up. Cleaning up these sites and redeveloping them is good for the
environment and the economy. To spur brownfields redevelopment, I
cosponsored and helped to pass the Brownfields Revitalization and
Environmental Restoration Act of 2001. This important legislation provides
grant funding to assess contamination at brownfields sites and to clean
them up.
Protecting America’s Natural Heritage
Protecting America’s
vast environmental treasures, such as our National Parks, National
Forests, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is a bipartisan
tradition stretching back to Teddy Roosevelt. These special places are
part of our natural – and our national – heritage.
I have
strongly supported protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The
Arctic Refuge is part of what makes our country unique, beautiful and
precious. During my time in the Senate, I have worked to ensure that the
Arctic Refuge will not be opened to unnecessary development. I am an
original cosponsor of legislation that would protect the refuge by
designating it as a protected wilderness area. In addition, I have voted
against opening the refuge to drilling at every opportunity during my time
in the Senate. Drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge is bad environmental
policy, and it is bad energy policy. It would take ten years of drilling
in the Arctic Refuge to produce oil. We do not need to despoil an
environmental treasure on a gamble for oil where the odds of finding
significant supplies are remote. We instead need to provide the
appropriate incentives for the development and use of energy efficient
products, alternative and renewable fuels, and improved conservation
measures.
I believe we
need a balanced approach to managing our 191 million acres of national
forests. Our national forests belong to all Americans, and can produce
timber, provide opportunities for hiking, fishing, hunting, protect our
water supplies and provide habitat for wildlife. I believe that a key
component of a balanced management approach is to preserve our remaining
pristine national forest areas. These areas are national treasures that
should be preserved and passed on to future generations. That is why I
have supported protections for pristine national forests by co-sponoring
the Roadless Area Conservation Act. This important legislation prohibits
road construction and logging in unspoiled, roadless areas of the National
Forest System.
Energy
I firmly believe that
a strong, balanced national energy policy is a key to strong economic and
environmental policies as well. We need a policy that promotes the use of
energy efficient technologies and alternative and renewable sources and
increases energy production without disturbing precious natural resources,
such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Our energy policy must also
improve the reliability of our electricity transmission grid, protect the
public's health from harmful air emissions, and create jobs.
That’s why I have
proposed a "Strategic Energy Fund" to jumpstart our transition to clean
energy sources. It’s a $50 billion "Apollo Project" for energy. The bill
eliminates oil company tax breaks and ensures that they pay their fair
share of royalties for drilling on public lands. It also gives oil
companies a choice: invest in alternative energy technologies or pay a
temporary fee into the fund. The Strategic Energy Fund would raise $50
billion to fund research, development and deployment of energy
technologies that will reduce America's oil dependence and greenhouse gas
emissions. The Strategic Energy Fund will:
-
Deliver Clean Coal
Technology. $3.5 billion in tax incentives and grants to build 5 clean
coal plants that can capture and store carbon dioxide and reduce global
warming.
-
Invest in Renewable
Energy. Move America towards the goal of producing 25 percent of
electricity from renewable sources by extending the production tax
credit for generating electricity from wind and other renewable sources
for five years.
-
Transform America's
Vehicles. Put more efficient vehicles on the road by quadrupling
consumer tax breaks for hybrids, clean diesel, and other advanced
vehicles, creating incentives for auto manufacturers to retool their
facilities, and putting $500 million towards advanced battery research
to speed development of "plug-in" hybrid vehicles.
-
Accelerate Homegrown
Biofuels. Extend the ethanol tax credit until 2012, and speed the
development of cellulosic ethanol by providing loan guarantees for the
first billion gallons of commercial production capacity, and providing
$2 billion for research.
-
Improve Efficiency.
Increase incentives to make homes and offices more comfortable and
cheaper to operate by improving energy efficiency.
-
Unleash American
Ingenuity. Accelerate energy research by creating a $9 billion "Advanced
Research Projects Agency" for energy.
Other information
relating to Clinton and Environment go to:
http://www.senate.gov/~clinton/issues/environment/
Download the PDF of Clinton's Plans:
