Senator Clinton has been the perceived front-runner in the Democratic primary since she entered the race. Although, even in New Hampshire where support among registered Democrats remains high for both her and the former President, the race is tightening as we approach the January 8th primary.

She has been to the Granite State on many occasions, and she has brought Bill with her on many of her trips. Her political campaign in NH is heavily populated with Democratic activists and party officials who supported her husband and now support her.

In May, I met Senator Clinton in Manchester and asked her about the role of clean energy in her Administration. Clinton said, “I want to invest in clean energy technologies, and to establish a national program to reduce global warming and increase our fuel efficiency.”

When I followed up with a question about energy independence, she answered instead about climate change, “The United States must be a leader in international efforts to address the problem of climate change.”

Hillary has one of the most comprehensive energy plans of all candidates but she didn’t release it until just last month. John Edwards, Barrack Obama, and Dennis Kucinich all released comprehensive plans earlier than she did but her’s encompasses many more aspects than probably all the others combined.
Her plan states:

• Hillary proposes a cap-and-trade system that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
• Her plan would auction 100 percent of the pollution permits.
• Clinton wants to create a National Energy Council to coordinate action across every federal agency.
• Her political campaign is carbon neutral and she would support making more of the federal government carbon-neutral as well.
• Using a term that I first heard from Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), Clinton wants to create an “Apollo-like project to achieve energy independence.”
• Clinton is a supporter of clean energy technologies – but her definition not only includes renewable energy, plug-in hybrids, and biofuels (which are good), but also includes ‘clean coal’ (which is not so good)!
• She also supports coal to liquid fuels technology which will still emit carbons into the atmosphere.
• Hillary wants to eliminate incandescent lightbulbs by 2020.
• She wants to encourage the creation of 5 million new jobs in clean energy over the next 10 years.
• She does oppose drilling for oil in ANWR as well as off the Outer Continental Shelf.
• She does, however, reluctantly support using nuclear power. As she said in a debate in NH, the nuclear power option has to remain on the table.
• She wants to adopt a 20% National Renewable Electricity Standard by the year 2020.
• Hillary wants to require that all federal buildings be carbon neutral by 2030.
• She would cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from projected levels by 2030.
• She would raise CAFÉ standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030.
• Clinton would become an international leader on global warming by signing the Kyoto Treaty and exceeding US targets.

Hillary’s plans are very comprehensive and well-detailed, just like her candidacy. But will her support of nuclear power and ‘clean coal’ break the hearts and cost her the support of the environmental community? That remains to be seen. But with less than 3 weeks to go, and with lots of snow on the ground, the presidential primary is heating up New Hampshire.

I have really enjoyed covering the candidates views on clean energy and energy independence for both the Green Options blog and for sustainabog and I want to thank David and Jeff and everyone who makes this all possible.

I’ve done my job; now it’s up to the voters to decide.

SmartPower - the national, non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a voluntary market for clean energy and energy efficiency.

Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Website

Image Credit: Flickr - Senator Clinton Campaigning in Hampton, NH

Mike Garofalo’s Previous “Power To The People’ Columns

Fred Thompson, A/K/A District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s Law & Order is truly a ‘Law and Order’ kind of guy. I don’t mean that he is a left-leaning humanitarian like his former L&O co-star Sam Waterston. Thompson is more the Law and Order in the Richard Nixon mold.

Thompson is better known for his 5 seasons on Law & Order than he is for his 8 years in the US Senate. It was an 8-year stint for Thompson as he finished 2 years on Al Gore’s term, when Gore resigned his seat to become Vice President. Thompson was elected to a full term in 1996. Thompson has acted in 2 dozen movies and countless televison shows. He has been married twice and is father to four children.

Thompson ‘toyed’ with the idea of running for President for several months during this summer. He finally announced his candidacy on September 5th on the Tonight Show. During the next few days after his announcement, Thompson went on an announcement tour that included 2 days in the Granite State. It was very opportune meeting him up here, as he has spent much less time in New Hampshire than has any other active candidate. I met him in Manchester at a small event.

I asked Thompson about making America energy independent. His reply, “Our dependence on foreign oil threatens our national security. We have to become more energy independent by increasing domestic drilling for oil.”

I followed up with a question about where would he increase domestic drilling. He said, “We certainly can drill in Alaska in ANWR; I am absolutely convinced that we can do that without environmental damage. We should also look to drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.”

Searching Thompson’s website, there is a brief paragraph with 4 bullet points discussing energy independence. His website relates that Thompson believes that “our climate is changing – but we don’t know for certain how or why.” His website encourages increasing domestic oil supply, reducing demand and using diverse sources of oil.

Let’s give him credit, however. His website encourages “investing in renewable and alternative fuels” and he also promotes “reducing CO2 emissions.” His actual plans are, unfortunately, short on substance on these particular issues.

So what else does Thompson support?

Thompson supports:

• Drilling in ANWR in Alaska;
• Expansion of nuclear power in the United States, which would include the re-licensing of most existing nuclear plants and easier licensing of new nuclear plants. Thompson has even voted for legislation that would insulate the nuclear industry from excessive financial liability in the case of a massive nuclear catastrophe.
• Although he opposed federal subsidies for ethanol while he served in the US Senate, he now favors those same subsidies. Perhaps it’s a change of heart. Or perhaps it was done in order to appeal to corn farmers in the early primary state of Iowa.
• He favors US research into renewable energy technologies that can reduce CO2 emissions.
• Thompson would like to promote ‘clean coal’ technologies because of the abundance of coal in America. In fact, Thompson voted, while in the Senate, to exempt some coal plants from the Clean Air Act.
• Thompson wants international help in combating global warming. He has said, “The United States alone cannot solve this problem.”

Thompson opposes:

• Raising CAFÉ standards for domestic automobiles; he voted against it while in the Senate and has avoided talking about it on the campaign trail.
• A National Renewable Portfolio Standard requiring that our national electricity mix be required to include a percentage of electricity from alternative fuels;

Thompson’s campaign is virtually non-existent in the Granite State. In October, shortly after he announced, Thompson peaked in a NH poll at 10%. However, since November, there have been 13 Republican polls taken of likely voters in NH and Thompson has scored from a high of 7% down to a low of 2%, averaging 4% through these polls.

Thompson appears to have made the unfortunate decision that his campaign would be better off spending time in Iowa and among the southern tier of states rather than wooing Granite State Republicans.

Based on the polls and the ‘conventional wisdom,’ it appears (with apologies to Curtis Mayfield) that “Freddie’s (campaign is) Dead.”

Next week: Our look at the last candidate, US Senator Hillary Clinton, Democrat of New York

SmartPower - the national non-profit marketing organization that promotes clean energy and energy efficiency.

Fred Thompson’s Campaign Website

Image Credit: Flickr

NH Presidential Political Polls

Mike Garofalo’s Previous ‘Power To The People’ Columns

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is one of the ‘top tier’ candidates for the Republican nomination for President. Rudy served as Mayor from 1994 through 2001, distinguishing himself in the eyes of many Americans during the national crisis on September 11th. Giuliani had previously served in the Reagan White House, and also as a Public Prosecutor, and in the US Attorney’s Office.

On the campaign trail in New Hampshire, only next-door (Massachusetts) neighbor Mitt Romney has made more trips to New Hampshire than Giuliani has. Rudy has campaigned in every corner of our state.

I caught up with “America’s Mayor” in mid-June. I asked him about his plans to make America energy independent. Giuliani replied, “”Let’s get serious about energy independence. We need to put resources into ethanol production. We need to license more nuclear plants. Nuclear power is dangerous but so is every other form of power.” (Really? Wind power is dangerous???)

When I asked him about what forms of clean energy he favored, he seemed ambivalent – “We need to look into cleaning coal. Wind and solar energy today are just too inconsistent.”

While on the stump that day, Giuliani spoke about how energy independence was a critical component of our national security. He begrudgingly acknowledged that global warming is occurring and that we are probably exacerbating the problem but it is not a staple of his stump speech. While he doesn’t run from the topic when asked, he doesn’t offer it without provocation. 

So what are Giuliani’s plans for Energy Independence?

· He wants to expand domestic corn ethanol production; he believes that we should use bio-fuels to help displace foreign oil use in our vehicles. Corn and cellulosic ethanol, as well as bio-diesel should play a role. He believes that the bio-fuels industry can help revitalize rural America

· Giuliani wants to license more nuclear plants within the US and to relicense and modernize existing plants. To anyone worried about the safety of nuclear power, Giuliani said, “No one’s ever died from nuclear power in the United States” but that nuclear power needs to be produced safely.

· Giuliani also called for more clean-burning domestic natural gas;

· He has been promoting expanded drilling for domestic oil and natural gas, including drilling off of the coast of Florida and in ANWR;

· He believes that clean coal technology will help us become more energy independent. Carbon sequestration techniques are a priority for him. He stated that our abundant coal reserves may help wean us off polluting fossil fuels;

· Giuliani also supports the coal to fuel synthesis claiming it can be one of most “valuable contributors to our energy independence;”

· Giuliani is promoting Efficiency and Conservation. He has stated that America’s government, corporations, and individuals must engage in efficiency and conservation efforts that reduce demand for oil, without damaging America’s competitiveness worldwide or our standard of living. America needs to use more energy-efficient technologies and take personal responsibility for conserving energy.
With respect to climate change, Giuliani recognizes that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. He has said, “I do believe there’s global warming, yes. The big question has always been how much of it is happening because of natural climate changes and how much of it is happening because of human intervention. I think we have to accept the view that scientists have that there is global warming and that human operation, human condition, contributes to that.”

While he recognizes that climate change is a problem, he opposes mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions. He falls back on the old argument that “if China and India are not restricted, then our contribution will be minor.”  (Where is the leadership?)

Surprisingly, regarding Renewable Energy, Rudy said, “Renewable sources of electricity, including solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power, will play an important role in our move to energy independence.”

However, I do tend to take his comments on expansion of renewable energy with a grain of salt. The reason for that is because he is leading all of the presidential candidates, of both parties, in accepting contributions from people in the oil and gas industry, totaling over a half million dollars already! Not incidentally, his current law firm has represented such companies as Chevron Texaco, Enron, Duke Energy and Pacific Gas and Electric.

Based on current national polls, Rudy may very well wind up being the Republican nominee in 2008. The NH Republican primary voters just might not support Rudy if they keep the sage words of Stephen Stills, ringing in their ears,

“Don’t let the past remind us of what we are not now. I am not dreaming.”

Next Week: Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo

SmartPower - the national non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a voluntary market for clean energy and energy efficiency.

Rudy Giuliani’s Presidential Campaign Website

Image Credit: Flickr - First in the Nation Forum, Manchester, NH

Mike Garofalo’s Previous ‘Power To The People’ Columns

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes….

Senator Barack Obama is the junior US Senator representing the state of Illinois in the US Senate. He was elected to the Senate in 2004 and is serving in his first term. Previously, Obama had served as a 3-term Illinois state senator. Barack is married to his wife, Michelle, and they have two young daughters.

Obama, even as a freshman US Senator, is in the ‘top tier’ of Democratic candidates for President. He has visited New Hampshire more than 20 times, spending more than a month’s worth of time traveling across the Granite State. He has been virtually in every corner of this state bringing his messages of hope to Democratic and Independent voters here.

Obama’s reputation for delivering passionate speeches full of hope and promise is legendary. He is often compared to Senator Robert F. Kennedy for his ability to inspire and motivate those who hear him. But for all his inspirations and hope, Obama appears to be a man of great contradictions, at least as far as renewable energy issues are concerned.

I caught up with Senator Obama in mid May traveling through NH’s seacoast area. At a town hall meeting, I asked him, as I have asked all of the candidates, about his views on promoting clean energy. Obama’s response, “I have been leading the bipartisan effort to raise CAFÉ standards and to promote the development and use of hybrid cars.”  Well, raising CAFÉ standards is a good idea and hybrid cars are great but I really wanted some depth (and inspiration) from this man.

I followed up with my usual follow-up question about how can we make America more energy independent and he replied, “I am also working on a bipartisan effort to produce more clean coal.”  Not quite what I had hoped he would say. His candidacy and his campaign positions offer some opposing views.

Last month, Senator Obama unveiled details of an ambitious energy policy, right here in New Hampshire. Unlike in most of the presidential debates, clean energy is a real concern of the voters here, so announcing his plan in NH made sense.  Senator Obama supports:

* A Cap-and-Trade system that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. This seems to be the standard against which all ‘green’ candidates are being measured. Obama wants the emission permits to be auctioned rather than allocated, which would a lot of money that he wants dedicated to clean energy research and development.

* He supports a national renewable portfolio standard that would require 25% of US electricity to be generated from renewable sources by the year 2025.

* He supports huge and continued subsidies for corn-derived ethanol production, which would certainly help farmers in Illinois, but do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But, he does support expanded use and development of cellulosic biofuel production. 

* There is another issue that Obama has supported that has not won him many friends in the environmental and renewable energy communities. He strongly supports expanding and developing more ‘clean coal’ technologies. He also wants to invest in lower emission coal plants. Again, this would help southern Illinois coal producers, but at the expense of exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions.

* Obama has stated that, ”The U.S. is recognized as the global leader in understanding better geologic coal-sequestration technologies. If we abandon that leadership, we risk leaving the rest of the planet wide open to investing billions in polluting infrastructure.”

* He would support signing the Kyoto protocols to demonstrate American leadership in battling global warming. Obama would prefer a new international global warming partnership.

* As recently as the last Democratic debate (in Las Vegas) Obama reiterated his support, albeit lukewarm, for nuclear power. He reminds us that nuclear currently provides over 70 percent of our non-carbon generated electricity. But he does understand that there are significant safety and waste issues that are cause for real concern. Nonetheless, his support is undeterred because of our dependence on foreign fossil fuels.

* Obama wishes to invest $150 Billion over the next ten years to develop renewable energy technologies in the United States.

* Another courageous stand, that many candidates are not advocating, is conservation. Obama would like to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 35% by 2030.

* He is also promoting energy efficiency by making federal government buildings more energy efficient. His energy efficiency plans also call for the phasing out of traditional incandescent lightbulbs by 2014.

* Obama also wants the federal government to lead America in the use of clean energy. He wants 30 percent of the government’s electricity use to come from clean energy by 2020.

* Obama has authored or co-authored over 100 eco-friendly bills in the US Senate and promises this set of issues will have a prominent place in the Obama Administration. 

Senator Barack Obama is a man full of hope, promise, and complicated positions and beliefs. He is a compelling candidate, with some really strong environmental beliefs. But in his short political career, his positions on a variety of issues have changed, and so has he.

As David Bowie might sing, “Time may change me, But I can’t trace time…..”

Next week: Former NY City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

SmartPower - The national, non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a voluntary market for clean energy and energy efficiency.

Barack Obama’s Presidential Website

Image Credit: Flickr - Obama at UNH, Durham, NH - February 2007

Mike Garofalo’s Previous ‘Power to the People’ Columns

It is extremely hard to find any politically uncommitted New Hampshire residents who have actually seen Duncan Hunter on the campaign trail – though it has been reported he has made 9 separate trips up here. It’s even harder to find someone who actually heard Duncan Hunter talk about clean energy or energy independence while he was here.

In early June, Hunter did attend a gathering of the New Hampshire State Republican Party in Manchester. I was able to ask him a question about making America energy independent. His response, “I support drilling offshore and in ANWR to reduce our dependence on hostile foreign sources. We need to increase our dependence on American oil. I would also support construction of more American oil refineries.”

I quickly followed it up with a question about if he felt that fossil fuels were exacerbating the global warming crisis. Hunter’s response, ”I have to leave now.” Perhaps he actually did have to leave. Or perhaps he thought I was one of those enviro-types! In any event, that was all that he said.

Not to be deterred, I searched Hunter’s official presidential campaign website for his positions on energy independence, and how he would combat global warming. I think the ‘Internet wasn’t working properly’ because no matter how hard I tried to find information on his website about those two topics, I couldn’t find them? I hunted, and hunted, and hunted – to no avail.

At a Republican candidates’ debate in New Hampshire, Hunter stated that we “should battle the problems of global warming and energy independence together” – which isn’t a bad idea! But where is Hunter’s plan for doing that?

The Republicans for Environmental Protection watchdog group, hardly a group of left-leaning environmental crazies, gave Hunter a rating of 13 (out of 100) for the year 2006. While that is an awfully low rating, it was a marked improvement over his 2005 rating of MINUS 4! The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters issued Hunter the lowest possible environmental score for 2006; his lifetime rating from the LCV is just nine percent.

Even without a written energy plan or a plan to combat global warming, some people in New Hampshire are supporting Hunter. But how many? Well the recent NH polls all have Hunter at 1 to 2% or less. In fact, reviewing the Republican polls from 2006 forward, there were no polls in which his support in NH measured more than 2%.

I guess New Hampshire Republican voters are just ‘hunting” for someone else.

Next week: Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois

SmartPower - The national non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a volunatry market for clean energy and energy efficiency.

Duncan Hunter’s Presidential Website

NH Polling Home 

Image Credit - Flickr - Hunter in NH at St. Anselm’s Debatein Manchester

Republicans for Environmental Protection

League of Conservation Voters

Mike Garofalo’s Previous ‘Power to the People” Columns

Although many people believe that the former US Senator from Alaska, Mike Gravel, is running a Quixotic campaign for President, he is making his presence felt at every chance. While his colleagues have taken some jabs at the front runner, Gravel has leveled serious blows and he makes his views known whenever he is on the national stage.

Mike Gravel was the first Democrat to officially announce his candidacy for President, doing so in 2006. He has spent considerable time in the Granite State. He has traveled the state trying to drive up his name recognition. Unlike some other states, New Hampshire has always included Gravel in any of its sanctioned debates. But Gravel is barely registering in the polls at, generally, 1% or less. But he continues undaunted.

Mike Gravel served in the US Senate from 1969 to 1981 representing the state of Alaska. He was one of the most influential politicians of his time – an ardent opponent of the war in Vietnam and an outspoken critic of the Nixon Administration. He is the man who put the Pentagon Papers into the public arena by including them in the Congressional Record. Gravel also earned tremendous respect for leading a one-man filibuster against renewing the military draft. Gravel’s tactics put so much pressure on Nixon that a moratorium on renewing the draft was issued and the draft was finally ended. Gravel also fought against the use of nuclear weapons and against the use of nuclear power. He left the public eye in 1981 and only returned in the last few years. He and his wife, Whitney, live in Virginia.

I met up with the former Senator from Alaska at WMUR’s Conversations with a Candidate, in Manchester in April. I asked Gravel what were his plans for combating global warming. Gravel said, “I want to cap carbon emissions as a means to end global warming.” I followed with “How do you plan to make America energy independen?. The Senator said, “I want to employ a WPA-like national program to wean the US off of our dependence on fossil fuels.”

Gravel’s energy plan is unique in many respects, not the least of which is the centerpiece: a hydrogen-based fuel for the economy (more on that later). But some of Gravel’s energy positions are relatively more mainstream:

• Gravel will reduce America’s carbon footprint by passing legislation that caps emissions;
• He wants the United States to lead in the fight against global deforestation;
• Gravel wants the U.S. to lead a massive global scientific effort to end energy dependence on oil;
• Gravel will impose a carbon tax, much like Senator Chris Dodd has proposed, but with the major difference that he wants the US to work with other countries to do the same. The funds from this carbon tax will be pooled, and the resulting revenues will fund an international scientific and engineering effort to wean the world from fossil fuels within 10 years;
• Gravel feels that that the best way to solve the energy problem is to let prices rise so that alternative energies can become more competitively priced.
• He proposes a hydrogen liquid fuel for our cars – Gravel states, “One of the things we can do is take electricity from windmills, run it through water, and have hydrogen. And by altering the technology of our existing cars and gas stations, they can be used to run on and distribute hydrogen liquid. You’re not making hydrogen fuel cells; that technology is not on the table yet. You’re making liquid fuel from hydrogen. Meanwhile, we can just manufacture the hell out of windmills and then turn around and produce all this hydrogen.”
• Gravel wants to eliminate all of the coal-fired power plants and change then into hydrogen power plants.
• He wants the United States to ratify the Kyoto protocols and to aggressively accelerate the goals. He states, “many European countries are ahead of their targets while the US hasn’t even agreed to it.”
• Gravel strongly and ardently opposes the use of nuclear power. Gravel states, “If we can have large electrical base-load plants fed by hydrogen, then we don’t have to have the nuclear.”
• Gravel sees biofuels has counterproductive. “What I know about the corn deal, it takes more energy to produce a gallon of biofuel from corn than it does to just use conventional fuel, so that’s a negative. Secondly, we have to realize that when we’re growing this stuff, we may be displacing the whole distribution of food throughout the world.”

Mike Gravel may not wind up winning the Democratic primary in January, but the debate process is elevated by his candor, his courage, and his ideas.

Next week: Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter

SmartPower - The national non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a voluntary market for clean energy and energy efficiency.

Mike Gravel’s Presidential Campaign Website

New Hampshire Political Polling Site

Also on GO:

Mike Garofalo’s Previous “Power to the People” Columns

Republican Congressman Ron Paul has been a member of the US House sporadically since 1976. He served terms of 1976 to 1977, 1979 to 1985, and 1997 to present, always serving different Congressional districts of Texas. Paul is a licensed physician and practiced for a number of years before entering politics. He is married, and he and his wife, Carol Wells, have 5 children. Paul ran for President once before, as the Libertarian candidate in 1988. Interestingly, he ran as the Libertarian nominee while registered as a Republican.

Paul has not visited New Hampshire very often. In fact, only Fred Thompson, who entered the presidential race a month ago in September, has visited NH less often than Ron Paul. That may explain why Congressman Paul is mired at 3% in the most recent NH poll.

Paul visited WMUR-TV, Channel 9, and appeared on their popular Conversations with a Candidate program in February. I had the opportunity to ask Congressman Paul if he believed that global warming was a serious problem. His response, "I don’t think that the jury has fully come in on global warming. There is still a lot of debate on that subject."

Chris Dodd is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. He is a Democrat and was elected to the US House of Representatives as part of the "Watergate Freshman Class of 1974." He served in the House until 1980, when he was elected to the Senate. Dodd is married and he and his second wife, Jackie, have two young daughters. Dodd's father, Thomas, was a 2-term US Senator from Connecticut as well.

Dodd has visited the Granite State on many occasions. His 39 days spent in New Hampshire (as of October 23rd) ranks him in 2nd place, just behind former Senator John Edwards, and just ahead of Governor Bill Richardson.

Dodd's campaign was one of the first to announce a very comprehensive energy plan. His campaign highly touts the praise they received on his campaign website:

"Very creative" — Former Vice President Al Gore
"Ambitious …. Aggressive" — League of Conservation Voters
"Dodd gets it." — Former Senator Bill Bradley
"A serious policy …" — Senator John Kerry

Dodd came to Nashua, NH, back in April, to discuss this plan. I asked him for some highlights of this plan and he stated, "I am one of the only major candidates who has the courage to call for a carbon tax. I want this money to go into a fund to support renewable energy and cleaning the environment. Let the polluters pay."

In the early 1950s, Detroit owned the automotive world. Cars were big, heavy, and fast! They had huge, monstrously powerful gas-guzzling engines. A visionary auto executive at the nearly bankrupt American Motors Corporation came up with an idea. He created the unthinkable — a compact American car. That visionary executive was George Romney and he coined the phrase "gas guzzling dinosaur." Romney became extremely successful and helped Rambler sell millions of cars. He then entered politics, became the Governor of Michigan and ran for President, unsuccessfully, in 1968

Fast forward about half a century — one of the sons of George Romney becomes governor of Massachusetts. Willard "Mitt" Romney serves one term as governor. But like his father before him, he holds higher aspirations.

In February of this year, Romney formally announced his candidacy for President. Given that he is no longer serving as governor, and that he has homes in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Romney has made more visits to New Hampshire than any other Republican candidate. Does familiarity breed contempt, as the old adage advises? Apparently not! In a recent NH poll, Romney garnered 27% of the Republican vote, to Rudy Giuliani's 21% and John McCain's 17%.

The above reference is just jealousy on my part for not being able to afford a $400 haircut like a certain former Senator can afford.

Former Senator John Edwards is from North Carolina and has, essentially, been running for President since the presidential election of 2004 ended. Edwards has visited New Hampshire more than any other Democrat, having made 24 separate trips, totaling 40 days. Obviously, that is one benefit of not currently holding public office.

Edwards was a one-term US Senator from North Carolina. His term ended in 2004, when he was the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and he decided not to run for re-election to the Senate. Edwards is married to his wildly popular (and outspoken!) wife, Elizabeth, and they have three children.

Back in February, Edwards came to my hometown and at a neighbor's house party made the following statement to me in response to my question about making America energy independent, "Along with the war in Iraq and affordable healthcare, renewable energy and global warming are the three main issues of this campaign. We need to start making some real sacrifices to deal with that problem. We must end our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels. We need to greatly expand our use of clean energy."

John McCain is a long-serving United States Senator representing the state of Arizona. McCain was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1982 and served two terms. He was then elected to the US Senate in 1986. He and his second wife, Cindy, live in Phoenix. He has seven children and four grandchildren.

McCain is a man of great contradictions. On one hand, he gained great national admiration as a heroic prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict. McCain spent 5 ½ years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. On the other hand, he was one of the "Keating Five" – the five US Senators who were accused of impropriety for attempting to influence federal regulators in favor of Lincoln Savings and Loan in the 1980s.

McCain is no stranger to New Hampshire. He has made more trips to NH than any other Republican candidate, except the former Governor from next door (Massachusetts), Mitt Romney. In the 2000 NH Presidential Primary, McCain stunned then-Texas Governor, George W. Bush, 49-30%, and he made many long-lasting friendships that he has rekindled today.

Ok, so I stole the title of this article from a song from that wildly popular Canadian pop group "The Poppy Family." It was a huge hit way, way, way back in 1969. But it truly does apply to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign. The messages from his energy plan seem to be going in many different directions.

Let's look at his extremely impressive resume! Richardson is the current Governor of New Mexico, a job that he has held since 2003. But he has also been:

• 7-Term US Congressman from New Mexico
• United Nations Ambassador, appointed by President Clinton
• Secretary of Energy, under President Clinton
• Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association
• Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 4 Times
• Brokered a cease-fire in Darfur
• Negotiated the release of hostages and political prisoners in Iraq, North Korea and Cuba
• Invented a chewing gum that will never lose its flavor

Ok, I made that last one up! But that resume is incredibly impressive. Richardson was born in California, but spent most of his childhood in Mexico City. As a teenager, he came back to the United States and went to school in the Boston area. He graduated from Tufts University and married his high school sweetheart Barbara Flavin.

Let me give you a little background on Brownback. He is a Republican United States Senator from the Sunflower State. He is currently completing his second term, which expires in 2008. An attorney by profession, Brownback served one term as a Congressman from 1994 to 1996. In 1996, he ran for the open US Senate seat that was being vacated by Bob Dole, who left, coincidentally, in order to run for President. Brownback won that race and was reelected in 2002. He is married to Mary Stauffer, and they have five children.

As so many other candidates have done, Brownback has made several treks to the state of New Hampshire. A right of passage for these candidates occurs when they visit New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV and appear on the Conversation with a Candidate television program. In March, Brownback went before WMUR's cameras, and when questioned by this writer about clean energy, he stated the following points:

• "I am from Kansas, a corn-growing state." (OK, I get that)
• "Wouldn't you rather be dependent on the Midwest rather than the Middle East for your energy?" (Wow! What a great sound-bite line! Can't you hear that on the nightly news being replayed over and over again? Masterful!)
• "I support using renewable energy in the US." (Hmmm ... maybe this guy 'gets' it!)
• "But I also want to use our reserves of oil, and to drill in a very limited area in ANWR in Alaska, not more than 15 square miles." (Uh oh! He doesn't get it!)
• "We also need to at least consider nuclear power." (Well, he didn't surprise me after all. Unfortunately!)

Dennis Kucinich is the candidate who is, ostensibly, to the left, of all the other 18 candidates officially in the race to be the next President of the United States.

Given that context, I wondered:

• How will his environmental beliefs resonate with mainstream America?
• What are his views about renewable energy?
• Does he have a realistic plan for energy independence for America?

Let’s explore the answers to those questions.

First, a short bio. Dennis Kucinich is a Democratic Congressman representing Ohio’s 10th Congressional District (a/k/a Cleveland). He is in his 6th term, having been elected in 1996. He previously served as Mayor of Cleveland and was the youngest mayor of a major American city when he was elected at age 31. Kucinich is married to a British citizen, Elizabeth Harper, and he has a daughter from a previous marriage. Kucinich first ran for President in 2004. While he did not win any primary contests, he did win 40 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Fast forward to December 11, 2006. Kucinich announced his intention to run for the Democratic Nomination in 2008.

So like all candidates running for President, Kucinich visited New Hampshire to meet with voters and to share his views and plans for America. In April of this year, Kucinich came to New Hampshire and was interviewed by ‘uncommitted New Hampshire voters’ at the WMUR-TV ‘Conversation with a Candidate’ television program. Questioned by this writer about clean energy, Kucinich stated, “I am a true environmentalist. In 2003, I put forth a national plan for the United States to use 20% Clean Energy by the year 2010. I strongly support any and all genuine and truly renewable non-polluting forms of energy.” Ok, so far, so good!