Senator Chris Dodd has released a comprehensive plan to address global warming and our energy challenges, which includes a mandatory cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the use of clean, renewable energy sources. In fact, Sen. Dodd is the first presidential candidate ever to release a television ad focusing solely on this key issue.¹ Additionally, he is the only presidential candidate to call for a corporate carbon tax in addition to a mandatory cap,² which he argues provides the certainty that we will achieve the necessary reductions in emissions.³ Sen. Dodd was the only presidential candidate to sign on as an original cosponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the strongest global warming legislation introduced in the Senate.⁴

As president, Sen. Dodd would require that all new coal-fired plants use carbon capture and sequestration technology as a condition of licensing with “no exceptions.”⁵ He has fought to direct funds from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission fines on nuclear plants to local communities harmed by nuclear mismanagement.⁶

Sen. Dodd has said that in his administration there would be no investment in liquid coal technologies since it is counterproductive to curbing global warming.⁷

In his own words

Dodd’s first 100 days priorities on energy and global warming:

“One of my top priorities as President will be to reduce 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To that end, within my first 100 days in office I will send Congress a comprehensive energy package that will highlight the Corporate Carbon Tax. I believe that the Corporate Carbon Tax will discourage big corporate polluters and stimulate innovation. Revenues from the Corporate Carbon Tax — estimated at $50 billion annually — will fast track research, development and deployment of renewable technologies such as wind, solar, as well as ethanol and other biofuels, and expedite the process for bringing energy efficient technologies to market. In my first 100 days in office I will also immediately begin the transition towards equipping new and existing federal buildings with the latest energy efficiency technologies. By the end of those 100 days, steps will be taken to ensure that every federal building will be built or retrofitted with the greenest technologies, from light-bulbs to power generation, and every vehicle will run on E85, biodiesel or other sources of clean energy.”⁸

On other key environmental issues, Sen. Dodd:

Supports reinstating the Superfund “polluter pays” program
Supports protecting water resources (including intermittent streams and isolated wetlands)
Supports permanently protecting and preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Supports the reinstatement of 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule
Supports requirements of compliance with existing environmental laws in trade agreements