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Mike Huckabee on Environment and Energy
This candidate has withdrawn from the election
The most important thing about global warming is this. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists, but it's all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future generations than we found it.
2007 GOP primary debate, at Reagan library, hosted by MSNBC May 3, 2007
It would have been a mistake to sign the Kyoto Treaty since it would have given foreign nations the power to impose standards on us.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 70 Jan 4, 2007
Alternative energy sources such as solar or wind have great potential in that they occur naturally, are therefore environmentally friendly, and have an inexhaustible source. There are certainly limitations, particularly to sources such as wind energy because of the intermittent nature of wind power.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 79-80 Jan 4, 2007
Supported the following on a 2002 survey: # Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology. # Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. # State environmental regulations should not be stricter than federal law.
2002 AR Gubernatorial National Political Awareness Test Nov 1, 2002
"We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass. Some will come from our farms and some will come from our laboratories."
"We've got to become energy independent in less than ten years...Here's how we can do it. Turn this country loose with technology. Make sure we don't tax the very resources we are trying to create. Whether its wind or solar, whether its nuclear, or domestically produced oil (only for the interim, because we have to get away from oil all together), but renewable, environmentally friendly sources of energy, that would include biofuels, hydrogen, hydrogen cells...there are a lot of different options. I don't think our energy needs are best met by any one of them, but by all of them in a combination."
Supports a renewable portfolio standard that would require 15 percent of U.S. electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2020. Proposes expanding the concept to include "alternative" energy in addition to "renewable," so it would include "clean coal" and nuclear power.
Politics has kept us from developing potential exploration in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, or along the Outer Continental Shelf, and the lack of leadership toward alternative forms of energy has left us with little more than higher prices and a growing anxiety.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 78 Jan 4, 2007
Supports oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore in U.S. waters, but says, "In the long term, we need to get off oil altogether."
Is "open" to 'cap and trade systems but has not specified a target
Huckabee said he supports an economy-wide ``cap-and-trade'' system to control greenhouse gases, which scientists say are causing climate change. The program, which has been introduced in Congress, would create a market for buying and selling permits to allow carbon-dioxide emissions. President George W. Bush is among Republicans who oppose a carbon cap.
"Nuclear energy, people are scared to death of it, but quite frankly it is one of the most efficient and truly safe ways"
Q: Do you think we need to expand the role of nuclear power in the U.S.? HUCKABEE: Absolutely. France is almost completely nuclear, and it's not like they're a nation given to risky behaviors. There's been a real bias against nuclear energy in the United States, going all the way back to Three Mile Island in 1979, but I think most of it is unfounded. I mean, we've been running nuclear submarines for 60 years without accidents. Q: What would you do about the problem of storing nuclear waste? HUCKABEE: I recognize that's the sticky part. Everybody wants the benefits of nuclear energy, but nobody wants the storage of the nuclear material in their own backyard. Part of it is you have to make it economically viable for somebody to actually receive it. But a lot of it is changing attitudes, educating the public that nuclear byproducts can be disposed of safely, because the first reaction people have is, "Our kids are going to glow in the dark if we put that stuff in our state." That's not the case.
Supports 35 mpg by 2020
Supported conserving Buffalo River in north AR against dams
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 76 Jan 4, 2007
One of the proudest moments I have had as a governor is the passage of what became Amendment 75 to the Arkansas Constitution. It forever dedicates a small but vital revenue stream to the conservation of our state's valuable and irreplaceable resources.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 71-72 Jan 4, 2007
From the very first pages of Genesis in the Old Testament we are reminded that God is the Creator and we are responsible for tending to that which he created; to preserve it and to protect it.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 73 Jan 4, 2007
Signed a letter to President Bush opposing any plan to change the Missouri River's seasonal flow to conserve water during drought or to protect endangered species.
AP Online, March 27, 2001
From the very first pages of Genesis in the Old Testament we are reminded that God is the Creator and we are responsible for tending to that which he created; to preserve it and to protect it.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 73 Jan 4, 2007
"We should build communities with sidewalks and green spaces to encourage people to be pedestrians, not just motorists."