Update: Dennis Kucinich dropped out of the presidential race on Jan. 25, 2008.

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has been active and outspoken on a wide range of environmental and sustainability issues during the decade he’s represented Ohio’s 10th district in the U.S. House. His efforts have earned him a 92 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

Read an interview with Dennis Kucinich by Grist and Outside.

• Proposes a Works Green Administration (modeled on Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration) that would put millions of Americans to work building and installing clean-energy technologies, retrofitting homes for energy efficiency, etc.
• Calls for extensive government funding to develop renewable-energy technologies, and for withdrawal of government subsidies for nonrenewable energy.
• Calls for a “Global Green Deal” that would push development of renewable energy in the U.S., creating jobs in the process, and partner with developing nations to provide them with affordable, clean energy technologies.
• Calls for a phaseout of all nuclear power plants, and for more stringent regulation of nuclear waste.
• Calls for a phaseout of all coal power and coal mining. Has highlighted the threat of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants.
• Cosponsor of Rep. Henry Waxman’s Safe Climate Act, the toughest climate bill in the House, which calls for reducing carbon emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.
• Calls for a ban on logging, mining, and other resource extraction on U.S. public lands.
• Has been a vegan since 1995.

Watch Kucinich explain his positions on climate change and energy issues at a Nov. 17, 2007, Grist-sponsored forum:

Watch Kucinich explain his climate and environment strategy:

Watch Kucinich answer the snowman’s climate question at the CNN/YouTube debate on July 23, 2007:

Watch Kucinich explain his proposed Works Green Administration:

Listen to a clip of Kucinich’s interview with Grist and Outside:

Quotable Quotes

• “We have to understand the connection between global warring and global warming, because when we start talking about wars for oil, we’re essentially keeping the same approach to energy. So I’m saying we need to move away from reliance on oil and coal and toward reliance on wind and solar, and that’s the basis of my WGA, a Works Green Administration, where we take an entirely new approach to organize the entire country around sustainability, around conservation.”
  – July 23, 2007, in a CNN/YouTube debate between Democratic candidates