Senator Joseph Biden (D)

Global Warming and Energy

Mandatory Emission Caps [click here to read question five]

"I am a co-sponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act which sets a goal of 80 percent reduction below 1990 levels by 2050. Global warming not only has serious consequences for our environment, it poses a serious national security threat. Yet this Administration has been slow to act. The recent language out of the G-8 is a modest but positive change in the U.S. position but we have to go further. We need clear targets and just as important real actions to reach them. The US must return to a leadership role on climate change."

International Action on Global Warming [click here to read question six]

"I am proud to be the author, with Senator Lugar, of a bipartisan resolution calling on this Administration to return to a leadership role in international climate change negotiations. Prior to the Kyoto meetings in 1997 the Senate adopted a resolution setting severe restrictions on US participation in any international treaty addressing climate change. It is time the Senate was on record calling for negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The United States has the capability to lead the effort to stop global climate change."

Fuel Efficiency Standards [click here to read question seven]

"I would instruct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation to work together with the EPA in addressing vehicle emissions. I am an original co-sponsor in the last Congress and the current Congress of the Fuel Economy Reform Act. The bill authorizes NHTSA to apply the attribute-based model it created for increasing standards for light trucks to passenger vehicles. It combines an attribute-based system with an annual 4 percent per year increase for cars and light trucks (approximately 1 mile per gallon) with the goal of getting to a 40 mpg average by 2017. We shouldn’t lag behind the rest of the world in setting fuel economy standards. We could reduce our oil demand by 1.5 million barrels a day by raising our fuel economy standards, roughly the amount of oil we import from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. With just that one step, we can go a long way toward reducing our dependence on foreign oil as well as greenhouse gas emissions."

Renewable Energy Standards [click here to read question eight]

"I support setting a national renewable fuel standard of 20 percent to increase the use of renewable fuels. We should have a national policy that encourages the development of clean, renewable energy and we should invest in developing renewable energy technology. The US should be a world leader not only in using renewable energy but also in developing and exporting renewable technology to the rest of the world."

Efficiency Standards [click here to read question nine]

"The federal government should drive markets for efficiency technology and renewable energy. I support requiring the federal government to purchase 10 percent renewable electricity by 2010 and 20 percent by the end of the next decade. I also support significantly increasing federal building energy efficiency by requiring a 30 percent reduction in energy use over the next ten years.It will save taxpayers money – almost $4 billion dollars – and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by millions of tons."

Nuclear Energy[click here to read question ten]

"Nuclear power is part of our present and must be part of our future. Many nations rely on nuclear energy for electricity. American companies are technological leaders. We must maintain our leadership. We will be more secure if the best nuclear engineers are American. Nuclear power is not without problems. Serious safety, security and waste issues must be solved. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must actively monitor operations at all nuclear power plants. All requests for license extensions or for construction of new plants must be given the highest scrutiny. Licensees should be required to upgrade existing plants to ensure they are operating in the safest manner possible and that they are protected against realistic, 21st century terrorist threats."

Liquid Coal [click here to read question eleven]

"Coal is our most abundant fuel and relatively cheap when compared with other fuel sources, such as petroleum or natural gas. Given its low price, it will be an economically attractive power solution for the foreseeable future and should remain a part of the world’s energy mix. But I believe that we are best served by finding ways to use coal in ways that reduce emissions. We should invest in research into unconventional fuels – especially alternative fuels like ethanol and biodiesel -- that will reduce our dependence on oil – but technologies that do not add to the pollution that causes global warming should be our priority."

New Coal Plants [click here to read question twelve]

"Coal if far too plentiful a source of energy for us to ignore for the future. I believe that all new power plants should be required to have carbon capture and sequestration as a condition of licensing. Reduction of the emissions from power plants is both an environmental issue and a public health issue and that is why I have supported legislation that would reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide by power plants. Current technologies allow for substantial emissions reductions, but additional technological research is needed to use carbon capture and sequestration in large-scale commercial application. I support investments in this research."