1.a. - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is to institute permanent, onsite, monitoring squads on all energy refining, drilling and transmission sites.

The recent Deep Sea Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf Mexico demonstrates the justification for appropriate federal regulations that insure the safety of our people and our environment. However, regulations are only as effective as their enforcement. The recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has made it obvious that regulatory oversight is needed on a constant basis. Therefore; the EIEI hereby establishes the creation of permanent, onsite federal monitors that insure all energy operations are constantly regulated. Rather than allow for weekly, monthly or annual reviews, the federal government will have a constant role in insuring that all procedures are carried out properly and that all federal standards and safeties are maintained.

2.a – Begin to develop, construct and bring online a number of new nuclear power plants that will be determined by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that will be able to meet supply energy that will meet the demands of the regions with the fastest growing projected populations within the next 45 years. These new plants will begin to come online between the years 2018 and 2025.

3.a. - Schedule and invest in the construction of the number of new oil refineries as determined by the FERC. These refineries will be built within different regions of the United States to avoid total close downs of refining capacities due to regional natural disasters. These refineries will be constructed with quick conversion capabilities for the ease of transitioning for the future refinement of alternative fuels.

3.b – Establish an Energy Base Commission that will determine the most suitable and federal lands and necessary locations, including military bases, on which land can be leased for the operation of said refineries as well as for alternative energy power stations.

4.a- Increase the study, development and construction of alternative electric energy technologies and power stations and alternative electric energy systems.

Utilize the forms most suitable to the environmental conditions and terrain of each region of the United States. “Alternative electric energy” means electric energy produced from solar, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, or biomass technologies, provided that in the case of biomass technology, the biomass is cultivated and harvested in a sustainable manner; and “alternative electric energy system” means any system which uses alternative electric energy to provide all or a portion of the electricity for the heating, cooling, or general electrical energy needs of a building.

5.a – Institutes a Renewable Fuels Standard that starts at 7.0 billion gallons in 2012 and increases to 16.5 billion gallons in 2016—a figure that would represent about 8.5% of projected total gasoline and diesel consumption by that year. This more than doubles the targets set by the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005.

6.a - Assure access to interstate energy transmission grids for existing and future power stations and enhance the security of the national energy transmission grid.

7.a- All federally funded, subsidized or assisted construction projects will require the use of “sustainable development” that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainable Development implies economic growth together with the protection of environmental quality, each reinforcing the other. The essence of this form of development is a stable relationship between human activities and the natural world, which does not diminish the prospects for future generations to enjoy a quality of life at least as good as our own. Sustainable development includes the incorporation of, among other things, recycled material such as steel as well as energy efficiency resources and other environmental and economic factors.

8.a- Allow for the drilling of Oil in the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Reserve (ANWR).

9.a- Reduce Americas importation of ethanol from by 10% a year for the next 10 years.

10.a- Allow for the passage of industrial, corporate and private tax incentives for energy efficiency and research and development as outlined in the National Tax Equity (NTE)  bill.

Environmental security is not just the responsibility of the federal government. It is a shared responsibility of state and local governments. It is a responsibility that must be shared by businesses big and small, and also by each and every individual American that benefits from the bounty and beauty that is our natural environment and are our natural resources.

To secure this environment we must not just regulate, we must also educate.  With this in mind, I will embark an environmental policy action agenda comprised of the following  paths and principles.

II- Environmental Security Policy

A.-Focus on a public and private sector partnership that enhances the study, policy development, education, enforcement and stewardship of effective :

• Natural Resource Based Economic Development
• Wildlife Preservation
• Land Use Management
• Ecosystem Management
• Water Resource Protection

B.- Issue a national Environmental Hazard Mitigation Bond program that will help temporarily finance a heightened increase in development of the knowledge, tools and approaches for mitigating the impacts of roads, railroads and highways on wildlife and ecosystems and for effective development, use, planning and management of our wetlands, lakes, rivers, tributaries, reservoirs, oceans and shorelines, and mitigating the impacts of our use of these resources and flood hazards.   (This bond proposal will not be considered until such time as our national economy has stabilized and seen an unemployment rate no higher than 4.2%, and has reduced the national debt by more than 65% of its current level)

C.-The United States will willingly undergo and lead the study development and practice of environmental conservation and preservation  and will enthusiastically join  the world community in establishing, studying, and practicing sound, scientific policies that preserve and defend our environment and strike a balance between the need to preserve and defend our environment with the needs to preserve our economy and way of life. But the United States will not be forced into any international agreements that all other established or developing economies do not also agree to abide by or that the  United States deems as impractical and lacking enough sufficient sound scientific foundation. The United States also deems any international calls for any environmental reparations regarding the effects of so called global warming as ludicrous attempts to exploit natural extremes and changes of our climate  in an attempt to extort the industrialized world and make us a scapegoat for the suffering, poverty and climatological conditions of other developed or underdeveloped nations.

Whether you believe in global warming hysteria or you believe that the earth is an inherently turbulent sphere prone to atmospheric cycles of violent changes, forces and extremes, one thing we do know is that polluted waters, brown fields, smog clogged air and hazardous chemicals do no one any good.

That is why I am committed to conservation and preservation of our environment and wildlife. I am committed to passing an energy bill helps lead us away from the continued use of pollutant producing fossil fuel energy source. But the bill also insures that we are still able to meet our current energy demands but only through the use of carefully and properly regulated methods for exploiting such resources in the here and now.

In addition to making the Energy Independence and Efficiency Initiative law, my Administration will encourage states and local governments to preserve open space and manage and use public lands in a manner and standard that is respectful of our environment and wildlife and still is in tune with our citizen's needs and recreational use.

We must all learn to work nature, not against it.

Such goals can not be achieved soley through arbitrary federal regulation, so while a decent standard must be upheld, it is my belief that the people closest to the environment they live, work and play in, are best suited to managing that environment. 

But such leadership starts at the top, and that is why as President, my Administration will aggressively monitor and manage our environment and federal lands, punish polluters, and in particular, work closely with state and local governments on the preservation of our, wetlands, lakes, rivers, tributaries, resevoirs, oceans and shorelines, all of which are areas  which are currently facing the greatest threats of overdevelopment, erosion and pollution.

 

 

 

It was America that introduced the world to democracy and inspired the most powerful force on earth….freedom. It is American generosity, decency, ingenuity, innovation and strength which has helped to find ways to feed the hungry, cure the ill, save entire peoples from extinction, and inspire individuals to pursue their dreams and fulfill their destinies.

This capacity for, and ability to achieve  exceptionalism has thrust responsibilities upon us that we may not want. And is  our American exceptionalism that the world we live in toda, requires.  If we shirk our responsibility to lead, the void will be filled by ignoble forces that will make us regret the lost opportunities to continue shaping the events that effect us, as opposed to having world events shape us.

It is this perception which, while I seek not to overextend ourselves with unnecessary and undue foreign entanglements, I do seek to insure that America influences the global community by leading us to a more just and secure world  and reject the notion that we can simply stand by and whatch the events around us transpire.  The following is a presentation of my approach to handling some of the most important international centers of controversey that we face. ....(more here)

                         (For  a detailed explanation click on each of the respective title links below)

Afghanistan

Iran

Iraq

North Korea

China

Israel

The Middle East

When it comes to foreign affairs I believe in a reformed version of the Teddy Roosevelt philosophy of speaking softly and carrying a big stick.  In foreign affairs I believe in speaking softly while dangling in front of our enemies a carrot attached to a bif stick.   By this I am suggesting that we seek to forge mutually cooperative relationships and making clear the benefits afforded to these nations by such a relationship with us.

Diplomacy and a cooperative attitude must be the starting point for all of our relationships in the international community.  I believe in making it clear that the United States will not tolerate the existence of any conditions which pose a direct or indirect threat to our people, our allies and our interests and that if diplomacy fails to diminish and extenguish such threats, a policy of premption will lead us to act in our best interests and do whatever is reasonable but neccessary to insure that the actionable results of those threats never come to fruition.  With that point understood, the world should know that the United States wants a working relationship with all nations, but those working relationships must strive for fair, equitable, fredeom based results that respects decency and the rights of human dignity.

I also believe in making it clear that the United States does not want to be the world's policeman, but if the ripple effects of any wrongdoing impacts on the United States and our allies, short of effective and unified international efforts to correct wrongdoing, the United States will not hesitate to act unilaterally if neccessary.  And while we respect the sovereignty of other nations,  we will also take our responsiblity to the committment of freedom and human rights seriously, and will assist and support all freedom based movements that work towards bringing democracy and democratic values to their people.