Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Listen Up: Presidential Energy Politics

Renewable Energy World: We’re in the midst of a bizarre presidential election. And a global energy transition driven by both economics and climate change. So where do Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton stand with their plans for our energy future?

Fortunately, the platforms of both parties were published this July, and are very specific about their respective goals for the U.S.’s energy future. Not surprisingly, the republican platform wants to kill the Clean Power Plan (which calls for the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent by 2025), use more coal (which the platform arbitrarily characterizes as “clean”), ease nuclear permitting, prevent taxes on carbon, state that the environment is too important to leave to radical environmentalists, and solve environmental problems with human ingenuity and the development of new technology. On the other hand, the democrat platform wants to get 50 percent of our electricity from clean energy sources in a decade, install half a billion solar panels in four years, generate enough renewable energy to power every home in the country, eliminate tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, and oppose efforts by utilities to limit consumer choices for clean energy deployment.

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