UPDATE: The full transcript of the speech is here.
Hillary is getting ready to unveil her new energy strategy in a speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Afterwards, her campaign advisors will be taking questions from the media.
I’ll be live-blogging the speech, below:
Climate change is bad; high energy prices are bad; importing all our oil is bad; power plant pollution is bad.
The president has done nothing to help; he’s censored scientists.
We can solve this problem. It’s what we do. We don’t wring our hands; we roll up our sleeves. WWII, blah blah. (Lordy am I sick of WWII analogies.) Space race, blah blah. (Lordy am I sick of space race analogies.)
Shout-out to Gore and IPCC.
It’s a nat’l security issue too. I made DOD take it into account.
This is a great economic opportunity. It will unleash innovation, create jobs, increase security, and lead the world. It can literally be a new beginning to the 21st century. (Nice line.)
This can heal the partisan divide. “If you’re ready for change, I’m ready to lead.”
Three goals: 1. Reduce GHGs 80% from 1990 levels by 2050; 2. cut foreign oil imports two-thirds from projected levels by 2020; 3. move to efficient green economy by unleashing wave of private sector innovation; that will create at least 5 million good new jobs.
As president, I’ll lead an energy efficiency effort — this is the cheapest, easiest way to tackle the problem. We can reduce residential energy use 20% by 2020. California has held energy use steady while economy has grown.
We will reduce electricity demand 20% by 2020. Decouple utility profits from energy supply. (Good stuff.) Utilities can be an ally, and it can create new jobs. We must maximize efficiency before building any new power plants; efficiency means “hundreds of little power plants.”
Build a 21st century grid. (Yay!) Harness information technology; allow alliances to communicate with grid. Incentivize grid; make appliances more efficient.
Create “Climate Star” initiative like Energy Star; provide consumers with info on emissions. Phase out incandescent bulbs once and for all.
Green Building Fund, invest $1 billion. Help 20 million low-income families update houses to be more energy efficient.
Connie Mac (sweet!) — stole this from Gore — defray upfront costs of energy efficient goods.
Cap-and-trade system: 100% auction of permits! Suh-weet!
All new federal buildings will have to be carbon neutral. Nice. Strengthen energy efficiency standards for public housing.
Help local governments go green.
Ask automakers to play a role. We should lead the innovation race. Raise CAFE to 40mpg by 2020, 55 by 2030. Wow, that’s bold. Provide $20 million in bonds to help automakers. Invest in new batteries. Create tax credit to help automakers cover health care costs. Accelerate production of plug-in hybrids — invest $2 billion in lithium ion batteries. Offer consumers tax credits of ujp to $10k to buy plug-ins.
Increase public transit funds by more than a billion a year, and fight sprawl and congestion.
$50 billion clean energy fund, paid for by repealed tax breaks for oil companies. Oil companies can either pay into the fund or invest in renewable energy.
This is the new American patriotism. (Good line.)
Increase biofuels to 60 billion gallons a year by 2030. (Boo.) Accelerate advance coal technology. (Boo.) Require utility commissions to evaluate whether efficiency can meet demand before allowing new coal; require all new coal plants be prepared for CCS. Support 25% RPS by 2025. (Wow.)
Make production tax credit for wind and solar permanent. (Awesome.) Tax credits for homes and businesses to go efficient. Create national net metering system.
Strategic Energy Fund will double energy R&D. This will create green-collar jobs across America.
Show China that this can be done. Abandon failed unilateral energy policy. Lead the way to a post-Kyoto agreement.
Establish E8, in which major carbon emitting nation’s come together. Focus on deforestation.
We can all play a role. We’ll issue Energy Independence Bonds.
This is not just a speech, it’s a strategy. I know how to do it; I know how to pay for it. It’s about translating intentions into action. I’ll create a National Energy Council, modeled on National Security Council, led by National Energy Advisor that reports directly to president. I’ll reform DOE to move focus away from fossil fuels to renewables. This is a transformational challenge; I’ll start meeting it on day one.
Never have we had so little time to do so much. The “greenest generation” will rise to the challenge. We won’t leave the world to our children worse off. Let’s be in the solutions business again. Join with me in embracing the challenge. It will be an exciting, noble, and rewarding adventure.
