A look at Rudy Giuliani’s environmental platform and record

Rudy Giuliani.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who served as mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, talks up energy independence as a critical component of national security. He acknowledges that climate change is happening and that humans contribute to it at least to some extent, but he doesn’t often address the issue or other environmental concerns.

Key Points

• Recognizes climate change as a problem, but opposes mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions.
• Calls for an “intense focus” on energy independence, saying he would make it a priority to wean the U.S. off foreign oil within 10 to 15 years. His energy plan centers around “diversifying our energy portfolio.”
• Wants to increase U.S. reliance on coal, and calls for commercialization of “clean coal” technologies, including carbon sequestration.
• Supports coal-to-liquid fuel, saying it is “a very valuable contributor to energy independence.”
• Calls for the expansion of nuclear power.
• Calls for more biofuels, and supports a 51-cent-a-gallon tax credit for ethanol, as well as other biofuel incentives.
• Does not support increasing auto fuel-economy standards.

Video

Watch Giuliani answer a question about global warming at a New Hampshire GOP debate on June 3, 2007:

Watch Giuliani talk about energy and gas prices on the Late Show with David Letterman:

Watch Giuliani respond to a question about carbon caps:

Watch Giuliani explain his stance on energy independence during a June 12, 2007, speech in New Hampshire: