The Wall Street Journal-20080131-Campaign -08- Climate on Agenda of Candidates

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Campaign '08: Climate on Agenda of Candidates

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The narrowed field of presidential candidates increases the likelihood that the winner will favor stepped-up efforts to fight global warming and change how the nation uses energy.

The leading contenders -- Sen. John McCain on the Republican side and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democrats -- support legislation that would gradually cut greenhouse-gas emissions, a sharp departure from the Bush administration's approach.

But key differences remain between the parties. And while another Republican -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- supports emissions cuts, Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is pushing more-modest measures.

The Republican candidates see energy security mostly as a supply- side challenge that can be solved by increasing oil and gas drilling, building nuclear power plants, developing so-called clean-coal technologies and helping innovators find technological fixes. Many worry about the cost and effectiveness of emissions-control efforts. Most favor drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Among Republicans, Mr. McCain, of Arizona, sees the greatest role for government.

Democrats focus more on the demand side. They see a central role for the government to put in place programs to cut oil, natural-gas and electricity use and bolster renewable energy. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama both believe government should set mandatory targets to reduce corporate greenhouse-gas emissions, then allow companies to buy and sell permits to pollute, creating what is known as a cap-and-trade system.

Among Republicans, Mr. McCain is the most outspoken on the issue. In 2003 he broke with many in his party to sponsor greenhouse-gas legislation with Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, now an independent but at the time a Democrat; the legislation was unsuccessful. Mr. McCain hasn't co-sponsored more-recent efforts. His 2003 proposal -- which would have resulted in free emissions credits to big polluters like utilities -- was less stringent than the system currently supported by Sens. Clinton and Obama, one that called for auctioning the credits.

Mr. McCain warned in a recent speech that "unless we reverse what is happening on this planet, my dear friends, we are going to hand our children a planet that is badly damaged."

Mr. Romney has issued few specifics on energy, although he has said he favors opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and accelerating construction of nuclear power plants.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have supported legislation calling for greenhouse-gas emissions to be reduced to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. They want clean-energy funds to quicken the deployment of advanced technologies. They would train people for so-called green- collar jobs and would recruit youth to weatherize homes in poor neighborhoods. Mrs. Clinton's goal is five million new clean-energy jobs.

Mr. Obama, in a speech in October, said the U.S. needs to make climate change a priority. "Washington hasn't acted, and that is the reason America hasn't led," he said.

Mrs. Clinton, of New York, has expressed skepticism about efforts to convert coal into a liquid fuel. Mr. Obama, from coal-rich Illinois, supports the idea. Mr. Romney expresses support for coal-to-liquids programs because coal is plentiful in the U.S.

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Elizabeth Holmes and Alex Frangos contributed to this article.