Finally beginning to fill in policy gaps, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that she would double down on President Obama’s war on global warming, expand the use of ethanol in gasoline and condemned the GOP for embracing “fuels of the past.”
“As president, I’ll champion what works, ensure that Americans have the tools they need to lead the world in clean energy, and stand up to those who block our way and want to keep us trapped in an energy economy of the past,” she said in a guest column for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Gazette.
Hillary Clinton would expand the climate change agenda of her former boss. AP Photo
Her agenda leaves builds on Obama’s green plans. Clinton said she would:
— Help biofuels companies with making fuel from grasses and agricultural waste.
— Expand the government’s support of rural renewable energy outlets.
— Broaden the Renewable Fuel Standard from 10 percent ethanol in gasoline to 15 percent, a huge boost to farmers but a potential threat to current internal combustion engines.
Clinton’s push for expanding the RFS puts pressure on her former boss who has been sitting on plans to continue building the amount of ethanol in gas. The Environmental Protection Agency could release its plan Friday or Monday.
“We have to get the RFS back on track in a way that provides investors with the certainty they need, protects consumers, improves access to E15, E85, and biodiesel blends, and effectively drives the development of cellulosic and other advanced biofuels,” Clinton wrote.
She also described some in the GOP presidential field as slaves to coal and gas.
“There are still some here in America — even candidates for president — who want to keep the deck stacked for the fuels of the past,” she mocked, adding, “They support wasteful subsidies for oil and gas, block investments in new clean technologies, and even deny the science of climate change.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
