Environment/Global Warming:
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Please add information about where Senator Obama stands on the issues, with links to source materials.
Please add information about where Senator Obama stands on the issues, with links to source materials.
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===Environment/Global Warming===
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Barack Obama believes that we have a responsibility to our children to leave this Earth better than we found it. He has a plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to turn the global warming crisis into a moment of opportunity for innovation and job creation. And as president, he will restore America's promise of a clean and beautiful environment by cleaning up our air and water, building healthier communities with fewer toxins, and preserving our forests and other national treasures. In doing so, Obama will make sure that our environmental laws and policies balance America's need for a healthy, sustainable environment with economic growth.
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Global Climate Change
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Limit the Causes of Global Warming. We need to take steps to stop catastrophic, manmade climate change. If we do not act, the consequences will be devastating for future generations, especially for the poorest global populations. As president, Barack Obama will act decisively and creatively to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Barack Obama supports implementation of a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. The cap-and-trade system will include an initial partial auction of pollution credits to raise money to upgrade our energy infrastructure, create hundreds of thousands of new, high-wage jobs, and make America truly energy independent.
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Increase Fuel Efficiency Standards. Due to congressional gridlock, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards have remained frozen for 20 years. As president, Barack Obama will gradually increase CAFE standards while protecting the financial future of domestic automakers. In the Senate, Barack Obama introduced a bold new plan that brought Republicans and Democrats, CAFE supporters and long-time opponents together, and offered what the New York Times editorial page called "real as opposed to hypothetical results." As president, Barack Obama will:
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Increase and Strengthen CAFE Standards. Obama will establish a targeted 4 percent increase each year in CAFE standards - a rate that the National Academy of Sciences has determined is possible without changes in vehicle weight, safety or performance - unless the experts at NHTSA justify a deviation in that rate by proving that the increase is technologically unachievable, cannot maintain overall fleet safety, or is not cost-effective.
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Provide Flexibility for Manufacturers. Obama will provide fairness and flexibility to automakers by establishing different standards for different types of cars. Currently manufacturers have to meet broad standards over their whole fleet of cars. Obama's plan provides further flexibility by giving NHTSA the authority to allow companies to earn credit for improving fuel efficiency beyond the CAFE standard in one type of car, and using those credits to meet goals for other vehicle models.
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Achieve Real Results. If the 4 percent per year target is met for 10 years after the continuous provision improvements go into effect, Obama's plan will save 1.3 million barrels of oil per day and 20 billion gallons of gasoline per year. If gasoline is just $2.50 per gallon, consumers will save over $50 billion per year at the pump by 2020.
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Lower the Carbon in Our Fuels. Transportation accounts for 60 percent of U.S. oil consumption, and one-third of U.S. global warming pollution. As president, Obama will implement a plan to transition toward fuels that emit less carbon dioxide. In January 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order to establish a low carbon fuel standard for transportation fuels sold in California. Under the California standard, the carbon intensity of California's passenger vehicle fuels would be reduced by 10 percent by 2020. Barack Obama's plan calls for the creation of a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (NLCFS). As president, Obama will:
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Set a National Standard for Low Carbon Fuels. The lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of the pool of passenger vehicle fuels sold in the U.S. will be reduced by 5 percent in 2015 and 10 percent in 2020.
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Let the Market Work. The market, rather than the government, will determine which fuels are used by fuel distributors and blenders to meet the NLCFS. Because biofuels generally have lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline, the NLCFS in effect would spur greater production of renewable fuels, such as corn and cellulosic ethanol, and biodiesel made from plant oils such as soybeans.
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Real Results: Reduced Emissions. According to one estimate, the NLCFS would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 180 million metric tons in 2020 compared to 2007 levels. This is the equivalent of taking over 30 million cars off the road in 2020. If enacted in conjunction with Obama's proposal to raise fuel efficiency standards, the NLCFS would reduce emissions by about 530 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2020, the equivalent of taking over 50 million cars off the road.
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Real Results: Reduced Gasoline Consumption. By making greater use of home-grown, renewable fuels, the NLCFS could reduce the annual consumption of gasoline derived from foreign oil imports by about 30 billion gallons in 2020.
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Encourage Auto Manufacturers to Build More Advanced Vehicles. The auto industry must invest in more fuel-efficient cars if it hopes to compete with foreign competition and thrive in the future. With the challenges that U.S. automakers face, the federal government has a role in helping them do it. As president, Barack Obama will help American automakers meet these important goals. He will offer car makers a choice between the following two benefits:
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Retiree health care relief. Participating automakers in the Health Care for Hybrids program could receive federal financial assistance to cover 10 percent of their annual legacy health care costs through 2017. Automakers would be required to invest at least 50 percent of these savings into manufacturing advanced, fuel efficient cars in the United States.
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Generous tax incentives for retooling parts and assembly plants. Participating automakers could receive generous tax incentives for retooling their assembling plants to produce advanced parts.
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Under Obama's plan, autoworkers will get the health care they have been promised, the auto industry will be back on a competitive footing, and our reliance on foreign oil will be reduced.
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"(Healthcare for Hybrids') stroke of genius is in connecting the dots - decreasing oil consumption is clearly a top national priority but it will not happen without a national investment."
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- Walter McManus
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Director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation
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"Obama has come up with an audacious proposal that has won the backing of enviros and the United Auto Workers (UAW), and should win the support of both the cash-strapped auto industry and motorists suffering from sticker shock. . . . Obama's proposal may be characteristic of his work, finding support across class (and other) lines."
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-The American Prospect, June, 2006
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Expand the Use of E85 and Other Renewable Fuels: While there are more than 167,000 gas stations across America, only about 1,200 offer E85 – a blend of 85 percent clean-burning, domestically grown ethanol and 15 percent petroleum gasoline. Thanks to legislation that Barack Obama championed, gas stations are now eligible for tax credits for installing E85 ethanol refueling pumps. The tax credit covers 30 percent of the costs of switching petroleum pumps to E85. The tax credit will help create the infrastructure to support more flex-fuel vehicles. Obama also sponsored legislation requiring oil companies, that made at least $1 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2006 to invest at least 1 percent of their total reported first quarter 2006 profits into installing E85 pumps. Barack Obama also successfully authorized $40 million to bring a combined flexible fuel vehicle and plug-in hybrid car to the market within five years.
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Require 20 Percent of Electricity to Come from Renewable Sources by 2020: Barack Obama will establish a 20 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to require that 20 percent of electricity produced in the U.S. is derived by clean, sustainable energy sources. This requirement will spur significant private sector investment in renewable sources of energy and create thousands of new American jobs, especially in rural areas. As an Illinois state senator, Obama cosponsored a measure to create an RPS for Illinois' energy production.
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Invest in Advanced Technologies: Obama will increase basic science and research funding for clean energy projects. Obama also will invest proceeds from his cap-and-trade proposal into improving the efficiency of our buildings and consumer products, investing into carbon capture and sequestration technology, and other advanced technologies that make use of our biomass, solar and wind resources. Obama will also help lead the fight to clear bureaucratic roadblocks interfering with the construction of new wind turbines across the United States.
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Clean Air
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Air pollution causes thousands of deaths each year and even reduces school attendance rates. Barack Obama has a record of successfully fighting for cleaner air. As a former member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he helped stop President Bush's attempt to undermine the Clean Air Act, which would have increased industrial emissions into the atmosphere of mercury and sulfur, and he helped block attempts to roll back environmental regulations on oil refineries.
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As president, Barack Obama will restore the strength of the Clean Air Act. He will protect American families from smog and soot, which harm lung function and may aggravate asthma. And he will continue his leadership in combating toxins into the environment that contribute to air pollution.
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Clean Water
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Clean water is key to public health, recreation, and a variety of industries. As a senator, Barack Obama has been a strong leader on clean water issues. He voted against offshore drilling and has supported full funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which funds water quality protection projects for wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution control, and watershed and estuary management. As president, he will establish policies to improve the quality of our nation's lakes, rivers, and drinking water.
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Clean up our Water. Barack Obama will reinvigorate the drinking water standards that have been weakened under the Bush administration and update them to address new threats. He will help communities by restoring better federal financing for water and wastewater treatment infrastructure, and he will continue his leadership in protecting national treasures such as the Great Lakes from threats such as industrial pollution, water diversion, and invasive species. Obama will establish policies to help high-growth regions with the challenges of managing their water supply.
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Regulate Factory Farms. Between 1992 and 2004, there were more than 450 manure spills from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Iowa. These spills have killed millions of fish and have jeopardized public health by contaminating surface and ground drinking water. Barack Obama is committed to working for tougher regulations on CAFOs to preserve Iowa's environment. He has supported legislation to set tough pollution limits for livestock operations, including limits on nitrogen, phosphorus, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and other pollutants. He opposes the Bush administration's program of giving large industrial livestock operations immunity from the Clean Air Act and Superfund in exchange for simply reporting air emissions. Finally, since communities near CAFOs face the full brunt of pollution, odor, and health problems, Barack Obama supports efforts to set stricter local requirements and ensure meaningful local choice about the placement, expansion, and regulation of CAFOs.
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Preserve the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes store one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water, and Lake Michigan alone provides drinking water for an estimated six million Illinoisans. The Great Lakes are also important for recreation, transportation, and economic development. To preserve this national treasure, Barack Obama has been a strong supporter of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration and cosponsored the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act. He has secured funding to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species of Asian carp that could destroy their ecosystem. He pushed the Senate to improve its oversight of the Great Lakes Restoration Process. As a member of the Illinois State Senate, he was the chief co-sponsor of a bill to prevent sludge treatment facilities from being built near sensitive parts of Lake Michigan.
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Water in the West. Barack Obama understands that the American West is facing a serious crisis. He believes we need a commitment at the federal level to a problem-solving initiative that will help manage scarce water resources and develop partnerships to nourish a healthy environment and sustain a vibrant economy. In addition, federal policies are needed to encourage voluntary water banks, wastewater treatment and other market-based measures; improve technology for water conservation and efficiency; and remove institutional barriers to increase cooperation and collaboration among federal, state, tribal, and private organizations. The "cash for grass" program, in which people are paid to remove grass and put in desert landscaping, is an excellent model.
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Healthier Communities
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As president, Barack Obama will continue his fight, begun as a community organizer, to protect our children from health hazards and developmental disabilities caused by environmental toxins, such as lead, mercury, particulate matter, and industrial land waste. He will fight to clean brownfields, restore abandoned industrial riverfront sites, and give communities the tools they need to expand livable, walkable neighborhoods.
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Reduce Health Risks Due to Mercury Pollution. More than five million women of childbearing age have high levels of toxic mercury in their blood and approximately 630,000 newborns are born every year at risk. The EPA estimates that every year, more than one child in six could be at risk for developmental disorders because of mercury exposure in the mother's womb. The primary sources of mercury in fish are power plant emissions, and coal-fired electric power plants are the largest source of human-caused mercury air emissions in the country. Barack Obama introduced two pieces of legislation in 2006 to significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which in turn would reduce the amount of mercury in fish. He also successfully pressured the U.S. Department of Energy to stop its proposed sale of large quantities of mercury to companies overseas.
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Protect Children and Families from Lead Poisoning. Lead is a neurotoxin and especially harmful to developing nervous systems of fetuses and young children. There are currently 400,000 children suffering from lead poisoning in the U.S. Barack Obama has fought to get the Environmental Protection Agency to publish long-overdue rules for how contractors involved in the renovation and remodeling of homes should deal with lead-paint hazards. He introduced the Lead-Free Toys Act to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban any children's product containing lead. Senator Obama also introduced legislation that would help protect children from lead poisoning by requiring all non-home-based child care facilities, including Head Start programs and kindergartens, to be lead-safe within five years. The legislation would also establish a $42.6 million grant program to help local communities pay to make these facilities safe. The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced support for his proposal to remove toxic lead from childcare, pre-school, and kindergarten facilities.
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Control Superfund Sites and Data. Barack Obama demanded that the Environmental Protection Agency report on what it is doing to reduce and control human exposure to hazardous contaminants at more than 100 Superfund sites nationwide. As a state senator, he voted to create the Brownfields Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Program, which encourages private sector voluntary remediation of environmentally-distressed and underutilized sites. As president, he will restore the strength of the Superfund program by requiring polluters to pay for the cleanup of contaminated sites they created.
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Build Healthy Communities. Barack Obama believes we need to make a real commitment and investment in building healthy communities. He sponsored legislation to address environmental health concerns for disadvantaged populations. Senator Obama also sponsored the Healthy Places Act of 2006 and the Healthy Communities Act of 2005 to identify and address problems in communities that are at high risk from environmental contaminants and to assess and support improvements to the environment.
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Preserving our Forests and other National Treasures
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Barack Obama believes that we have a responsibility to our children to leave this Earth better than we found it.
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All Americans have an interest in the protection and proper maintenance of our irreplaceable national treasures. In 2006, more than 272 million people visited a national park. Conservation is also vitally important to providing clean drinking water, cleaning our air, and reducing greenhouse gas pollution. As president, Barack Obama will prioritize the stewardship of our forests, wetlands, and other natural treasures.
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Protect National Parks and Forests. Barack Obama supports a true preservation and protection policy for our nation's parks and forests. Obama fought efforts to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He also voted to prohibit the use of funds to construct new roads in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska for the purpose of harvesting timber by private entities or individuals. As president, he will repair the damage done to our national parks by poor funding.
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Conserve New Lands. Barack Obama supported legislation to restore $2 billion in cuts to conservation programs, including the conservation reserve and wetland reserve programs. He is a long-time supporter of increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which federal and state governments use to purchase and protect new land and keep our parks in good condition. As president, Obama will also do more to encourage private citizens to protect the open spaces and forests they own and the endangered species that live there. He will set aside new wilderness areas, establish stronger policies to deter international deforestation and improve domestic timberlands, and encourage communities to enhance local greenspace, wildlife and conservation areas.
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:Source: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/environment/
===Energy===
===Energy===