Hillary Clinton on climate change

Citizens for Global Solutions : America’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and refusal to participate in any international effort to deal with the tremendous challenges of climate change as well as other unilateral steps by the Bush administration did damage to our international standing. The Bush administration has ignored the problem and wasted time that should have been spent fighting climate change. We must return our attention to this most vital of concerns.

As President, I will make the fight against global warming a priority. Addressing climate change represents a powerful economic opportunity that can be a driver of growth, jobs, and competitive advantage in the twenty-first century. We cannot solve the climate crisis alone, and the rest of the world cannot solve it without us. In my administration, the United States will reengage in international climate change negotiations and provide the leadership needed to reach a binding global climate agreement post Kyoto, which expires in 2012, with the goal of negotiating a new agreement by 2010. If necessary, I will engage in high-level meetings with leaders from around the world every three months to push the new treaty. This challenge must receive consistent and regular attention at the highest levels.

[W]e must first restore our own credibility on the issue. Demonstrating a serious commitment to reducing our own emissions through a market-based cap-and-trade approach is the first essential step. We must also demonstrate our commitment to combating climate change by putting domestic constraints on greenhouse gas emissions and by stepping up America’s investments in a clean energy future. To that end, I have endorsed proposals to reduce U.S. emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.

We must also help developing nations build efficient and environmentally sustainable domestic energy infrastructures. Two-thirds of the growth in energy demand over the next 25 years will come from countries with little existing infrastructure.

Finally, we must create formal links between the International Energy Agency and China and India and create an “E-8" international forum modeled on the G-8. This group would be comprised of the world’s major carbon-emitting nations and hold an annual summit devoted to international ecological and resource issues.

CBS News : Katie Couric Asks The Candidates In “Primary Questions:" Is The Global Warming Threat Overblown?

Clinton: I don’t think that it’s over-hyped. I think we have time but we have to start acting now. I would put a heavy emphasis on energy efficiency. We cab drastically lower our use of electricity, thereby drastically lowering our use of coal-powered electricity. We need to have higher gas mileage and I have advocated 40 miles per gallon by 2020 and I believe that’s achievable. But we’re gonna have to help Detroit do it. I don’t want to sacrifice jobs to do it. I want to leave the world in a post-Kyoto agreement that I hope we can get resolved and signed that will include China and India.

Want to have energy independence bonds like we had during the World War when we had war bonds. If we have people buying those bonds, we will take that money and put it into what I would call a strategic energy fund. This has to be change from the lowest level of the family and business level all the way up to the national and international level.