Voter Guide: Complementary Policies to Slow or Reduce GHG Emissions

Cap-and-trade is essential to reducing U.S. GHG emissions, but by itself cap and trade will not be sufficient to bring domestic and international emissions down to safe levels. Transportation policies, building codes, energy efficiency, and low-carbon energy generation are just a few of the areas that will need to be part of a successful comprehensive climate change policy.

Sen. McCain strongly favors dramatically expanded nuclear power generation. He has called for 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and for 100 new nuclear plants in the long term. Sen. Obama is open to increasing nuclear generation, saying, “it is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option,” but “before an expansion of nuclear power is considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation.”

Both candidates support research, development and deployment (RD&D) of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology for coal-fired power plants. CCS is also sometimes referred to as “clean coal technology.” Sen. McCain has called for $2 billion per year for CCS RD&D, while Sen. Obama would direct the Department of Energy to enter into public-private partnerships to develop five commercial-scale coal?fired plants with CCS.

The candidates disagree over a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) (also called a renewable energy standard [RES]), which would set a federal mandate for the percentage of electricity consumed in the U.S. that must come from renewable sources. Sen. Obama favors an RPS of 10% of all consumed energy by 2012. Sen. McCain opposes such a mandate, supporting instead tax incentives to encourage renewable energy production.

Both candidates have made recommendations that could reduce GHG emissions from the transportation sector. Sen. McCain would establish a “Clean Car Challenge,” a tax credit of $5,000 for every consumer who buys a zero-carbon emission car; McCain would also establish a $300 million prize for the development of advanced battery technology for plug-in hybrid and fully electric automobiles. Sen. Obama proposes a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of advanced technology vehicles, and has set a goal of 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Both candidates support expanded production of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) ¬¬– American automakers are already committed to make 50% of their cars FFVs by 2012, and Sen. Obama pledges to make 100% of all new cars are FFVs by 2012, while Sen. McCain “calls on automakers to make a more rapid and complete switch to FFVs.”

Changing the vehicles we drive is one important way to reduce GHG emissions from transportation, but addressing the emissions from transportation fuels themselves is also critical. To that end, Sen. Obama would establish a national Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which would, starting in 2010, require fuel suppliers to reduce the carbon content of their fuel by 5% by 2015, and by 10% by 2020. Sen. Obama would also increase fuel economy standards by 4% a year. Sen. McCain would “effectively enforce” existing fuel economy standards, and would eliminate mandates, subsidies, tariffs and price supports that focus only on corn-based ethanol, which would “level the playing field for all alcohol-based fuels,” including cellulosic ethanol.

Both candidates recognize that improving energy efficiency across the economy can be a powerful tool for reducing GHG emissions. Sen. McCain would apply higher efficiency standards to new or retrofitted buildings leased or purchased by the Federal government, which is currently the largest energy consumer in the world, and occupies 3.3 billion square feet of space worldwide. Sen. McCain would also promote investment to upgrade the national electricity grid, and supports deploying smart metering technology. Sen. Obama would set a national electricity efficiency goal of reducing demand by 15% from DOE’s projected 2020 levels. Sen. Obama would also set a goal of making all new buildings carbon-neutral or zero-emission by 2030, and set a national goal of improving new building efficiency by 50% and existing building efficiency by 25% over the next decade. Like Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama pledges to reduce Federal energy consumption, improving energy efficiency in all new Federal buildings by 40% within 5 years, and ensuring that all new Federal building are zero-emitting by 2025. Sen. Obama also pledges to invest in a smart grid, and to incentivize states to adopt regulations allowing utilities to decouple profits from increased energy usage.

Back to The Candidates and Climate Change: A Guide to Key Policy Positions

Appendix: Candidates’ Climate- and Energy-Related Policy Positions