Biden: ‘If I could wave a wand, and the Lord said I could solve one problem, I would solve the energy crisis’

Articles — By forcechange on August 27, 2008 5:00 am

While some politicians don’t seem to be rising to the occasion with respect to our failing energy policy, one who has been prominently in the news this week may actually be part of the solution.  Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s pick for his running mate, has taken a strong and thoughtful position on climate change and energy policy.

Environmental Capital has a good overview of Biden’s positions with respect to these issues (via a Salon.com article written during the early part of the Democratic primary race).  The following are some of the highlights of Biden’s positions on the environment and energy policy:

• Climate change as a security issue: If the predictions of the scientists are correct, you could see ocean levels rise three feet. If that occurs, you’re going to displace over 35 million people just in South Asia, and they’re going to physically be looking for a new place to land. Just that, all by itself, is going to initiate major new conflicts relating to war. You’re going to have nations fighting over arable land, more border disputes and, as a consequence, a great deal of instability.

• What the U.S. should do about global warming: To deal with global warming, you have to change the attitude of the world, particularly China and India, the two largest developing nations. But in order to do that, to have any credibility, you have to begin here in the United States…

• The deployment of “clean coal”: I don’t think there’s much of a role for clean coal in energy independence, but I do think there’s a significant role for clean coal in the bigger picture of climate change. Clean-coal technology is not the route to go in the United States, because we have other, cleaner alternatives. But I would invest a considerable amount of money in research and development of clean-coal and carbon-sequestration technologies for export. China is building one new coal-fired plant per week. That’s not going to change unless there’s a fundamental change in technology, because they have about 300 years of dirty coal, and they’re going to use it.

• Nuclear power: I see a role for nuclear, but first you’ve got to deal with the security as well as the safety concerns. I’d be spending a whole hell of a lot of money trying to figure out how to reconfigure the spent fuel into reusable fuel. I would not invest in [growing our nuclear power capacity in its current form], but I would invest in sorting out the storage and waste problems. 

[Another good source for Biden's positions on the environment can be found at Grist.org.]