Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Should the federal government subsidize alternative energy development?
Virgil Goode, former US Representative (R-VA), stated the following on his campaign website page "The Issues," available at www.goodeforpresident2012.com (accessed Oct. 25, 2012):
“The United States must be free of foreign fossil fuel. Freedom from the Middle Eastern sheiks, Nigeria, and Venezuela is necessary for a continued bright future for our country. We cannot allow OPEC to control our energy supply. The United States must develop its own resources and alternative fuel sources. Hydrogen, biodiesel, and other alternative energy sources have potential in making us less dependent on foreign fossil fuels. I also support the utilization of nuclear power and expanded drilling opportunities for natural gas and oil in this country so that our energy needs are met by domestic and not foreign sources.” Oct. 25, 2012 Virgil Goode
Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, stated the following in his article "Energy & the Environment," available at www.garyjohnson2012.com (accessed Oct. 25, 2012):
"Government subsidies and incentives for specific energy resources don’t work.
Cap and Trade schemes, tax subsidies, and government efforts to steer us to one energy source over another are inherently inefficient, disrupt the market, and ultimately impose costs we cannot afford.
Nowhere in the Constitution is the government given the power to manipulate our behavior as consumers or producers of energy." Oct. 25, 2012 Gary Johnson
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, stated the following during an Oct. 17, 2012 speech, "Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event in Mt. Vernon, IA," available at www.whitehouse.gov:
"Look, we all agree we got to increase oil production. We all agree we got to increase natural gas production. But the question is whether we build on the progress for the new energy sources of the future. I'm not going to keep on giving corporate taxpayer-funded welfare to oil companies, $4 billion a year, when we could be using that money to continue to promote wind and solar and long-lasting batteries, and put Americans back to work right now - seeing that technology develop here in the United States instead of China or Germany, or some other country.
And I've got to tell you, Iowa, this is not a pipedream; there are nearly 7,000 jobs in Iowa right now depending on wind energy. Last night, Governor Romney claimed he didn’t have a plan to end wind jobs in Iowa, but he called these jobs 'imaginary.' His plan would end tax credits for wind energy producers. That is a fact. My plan will keep these investments, and we’ll keep reducing the carbon pollution that’s also heating the planet - because climate change isn't a hoax." Oct. 17, 2012 Barack Obama
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, issued the following statement in an Aug. 23, 2012 campaign whitepaper "The Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class: Energy Independence," available at www.mittromney.com:
"The federal government has a role to play in facilitating innovation in the energy industry. History shows that the United States has moved forward in astonishing ways thanks to investments in basic research that have produced breakthroughs to benefit entire industries. Unfortunately, President Obama’s poor understanding of the private sector has spilled directly into his energy policy, as he sought to have government play venture capitalist and spend billions of dollars subsidizing his chosen companies and technologies. Meanwhile, as companies like Solyndra [solar power] were going bankrupt and the wind industry was shedding 10,000 jobs, revolutionary innovation in the private sector was paving the way for energy independence and an economic resurgence. Instead of distorting the playing field, the government should be ensuring that it remains level. The same policies that will open access to land for oil, gas, and coal development can also open access for the construction of wind, solar, and hydropower facilities. Strengthening and streamlining regulations and permitting processes will benefit the development of both traditional and alternative energy sources, and encourage the use of a diverse range of fuels including natural gas in transportation.
Instead of defining success as providing enough subsidies for an uncompetitive technology to survive in the market, success should be defined as eliminating any barriers that might prevent the best technologies from succeeding on their own." Aug. 23, 2012 Mitt Romney
Jill Stein, MD, former Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, provided the following statement on her campaign website page "Sign On Statement: The Urgency of Climate Change in the 2012 Election," available at www.jillstein.org, (accessed Oct. 26, 2012):
"Stein's Green New Deal, the cornerstone of her campaign, is a blueprint for action to stop climate change. The massive investment needed to transition to a carbon neutral economy by 2025 will provide the foundation for a revival of the American economy, putting tens of millions of Americans back to work while providing reliable, safe and affordable energy for our future.
Jill Stein supports an annual fund of several hundred billion dollars to invest in clean renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, tidal), public transportation and organic agriculture. It will be funded via taxes on the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies, major cuts in the military budget, a rising fee on carbon emissions, and an end to subsidies on fossil fuels and nuclear power plants.
Stein and the Green Party will shut all oil, coal and nuclear plants by 2025. Dr. Stein will ban mountaintop removal coal mining, the hydrofracking of natural gas and the development of the tar sands oil and Keystone XL. Jill Stein will stop oil drilling off shore, on public lands, under the Great Lakes and in the Arctic." Oct. 26, 2012 Jill Stein
Failed to win the Republican nomination on Aug. 28, 2012; No additional research done as of that date to determine candidate’s position on this question.