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In West Branch visit, Dodd points to a renewable future
by Rob Poggenklass · News · May 07, 2007
Candidate’s position on Middle East issues not a crowd pleaser
Washington politicians have some catching up to do with Americans when it comes to the issue of renewable energy, Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd told a crowd in West Branch on Saturday.
“This is a wonderful chance to move this country in a wonderful direction if we deal with energy issues in a very different way,” Dodd said. “The public are way ahead of us on this issue.”
The five-term U.S. Senator from Connecticut, who is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, spoke to about 50 people at the Hoover House Saturday afternoon. Dodd was introduced by West Branch resident Mike Owen and State Rep. Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine.
Dodd began the event by talking about renewable energy, then he answered questions from the audience on a wide range of issues. He emphasized the idea that Americans of all income levels should have the opportunity to use renewable energy.
“The amount of money in your pocket shouldn’t determine how green you are,” he said. “It shouldn’t be only the wealthy who can afford clean technologies.”
Dodd also said that making the switch to a greener economy need not be thought of as a hardship. He said that paying $3 or $4 for a gallon of gas is the hardship, and that switching to alternative energy sources would produce economic rewards.
“Too often we associate (alternative energy) with sacrifice,” Dodd said. “What we’re offering are liberators. All good things come from this. The status quo is the problem.”
Dodd, who is the first 2008 presidential candidate to visit West Branch, presented a three-step policy plan that he believes will move the country in the right direction on energy. First, he wants to double mileage standards for automobiles to 50 miles per gallon, from the current level of 25 mpg. Second, he would enact a tax on carbon, the stuff that causes global warming. Dodd believes it is disingenuous for politicians to talk about renewable energy without discussing a way to pay for research and development, such as the carbon tax.
“Anyone who doesn’t talk about price isn’t being honest or candid,” Dodd said. “It’s a difficult message. It’s something we ought to be honest with the American people about.”
Third, Dodd would support a cap-and-trade system. Such a system would establish caps on the level of acceptable carbon emissions, and allow companies that meet or exceed those standards to sell shares to companies that are unable to meet the standards.
Dodd said that the energy issue is so important because it affects our country in so many ways, including foreign policy. The candidate, who voted for the Iraq war resolution in 2002 but has since called the vote a mistake, said the American people should have no false illusions about why we are still in Iraq.
“If Iraq were producing turnips and not oil, we’d be out of there in a New York minute,” Dodd said.
Dodd praised the investment by Acciona Energía in a new wind turbine assembly plant, to be built in West Branch’s industrial park. He said it is just the kind of project we ought to be doing.
The senator then mentioned other alternative energy sources, such as geothermal energy and switchgrass that can be converted into biodiesel fuel. Dodd, who touted his experience working with Latin American countries, said that instead of dealing with leaders like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez because he has oil, we should be offering third-world countries ways to produce alternative energies.
When asked about nuclear energy, Dodd said he would not take it off the table as an alternative to coal and oil.
Audience members asked the candidate several questions about U.S. foreign policy, and how it would be different under a Dodd administration. Dodd said that President Bush has done six years of “on-the-job training” when it comes to foreign policy, and the U.S. standing in the world has suffered because of it. He said he would open direct talks with Iran.
“We wasted all this time with North Korea,” Dodd said. “We talk to them and all of a sudden, we have a better situation with North Korea.”
West Branch resident Pat Minor, who recently returned from a trip to Palestine, asked Dodd about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She was ambivalent about his response. Minor wants to hear from a candidate who understands how much the Palestinian people are suffering.
“I like that he would aggressively engage in finding a way to use diplomacy to solve the issues for a two-state solution,” Minor said. “The problem is, it is impossible in such a setting to figure out if these guys really understand the difficulties in providing a two-state solution at this time. Suffice it to say that I was unsatisfied with his answer. He didn’t say anything that made me think he really understood that the Palestinians are, indeed suffering, and that it is the Israel-Palestine issue that needs to be addressed before any other issue in the Middle East can be settled.”
Ed Flaherty, of Iowa City, said that he liked Dodd’s approach to the Iraq issue but that he, too, disagreed with Dodd’s position on the rest of the Middle East, particularly Palestine. Flaherty thought Dodd pooh-poohed some important questions on Saturday, and suggested that the senator may not be the last candidate standing for the Democratic nomination.
“I hope that he stays in the U.S. Senate for a long time,” Flaherty said. “I think that’s where he’s most valuable.”
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