Energy Independence: What Does the G.O.P. Stand for? Will You Stand Up for the G.O.P.?

2016 Republican Presidential Candidates

Energy Independence

Definition

The state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by, others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one's own affairs without interference.
Sufficient means for a comfortable livelihood.

Constitutional Quotes

None Found

2004 Republican Platform Quotes

Introduction and Preamble
- Our plans focus on ensuring that America remains safe, terrorists are defeated, and democracy flourishes in the world … and ensuring greater energy independence…
Building an Innovative, Globally Competitive Economy
- Future prosperity demands that we have affordable, cleaner, more independent energy supplies and affordable, high-quality health care.
- Ensuring an Affordable, Reliable, More Independent Energy Supply
  - A stable, affordable, more independent energy supply is vital to fueling America's economic growth, increasing prosperity, helping families afford prices at the pump, and making America more secure. President Bush and Republicans in Congress recognize the need for a balanced energy policy that increases both energy production and conservation. We need a comprehensive energy policy so that we will no longer lurch from one energy crisis to the next. Recent electricity blackouts, the California energy crisis, natural gas and oil price spikes, and high gasoline prices remind us that only a comprehensive energy policy will produce energy stability for America's families and businesses.
  - As one of his first acts in office, President Bush released the National Energy Policy (NEP) report, a comprehensive plan to reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of energy by increasing domestic energy production and supporting conservation and alternative and renewable energy. The President's proposal would make America more energy independent while creating jobs and promoting economic growth. It includes over 100 recommendations, nearly half of which addressed renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation. President Bush has implemented nearly every non- legislative recommendation outlined in the NEP report. Republicans in the House and Senate have stood solidly with the President. We endorse the President's policy, appreciate the hard work of Congressional Republicans in the face of intractable partisan opposition, and urge final passage of a bill to secure America's energy future.
    - Republicans support developing new technologies for more efficient generation and use of power. New technologies will allow us to create new job-producing industries and save jobs in industries that have long been staples of America's economy. For instance, working with Congressional Republicans, the President has already committed $2 billion over 10 years for clean coal research and development - which helps keep America's coal industry strong and reduces the emissions associated with coal use. As part of that commitment, we support FutureGen, an international, public-private initiative to build the world's first integrated sequestration and hydrogen research power plant that would burn coal more cleanly. President Bush's Clear Skies Initiative would create a $50 billion private market to deploy these clean coal technologies.
    - The Republican Party supports research and investment designed to realize the enormous benefits of a hydrogen economy and put the United States on the cutting edge of energy technology. The FreedomCar Partnership and Hydrogen Fuel Initiative include $1.7 billion over five years to begin building hydrogen cars and the infrastructure to support them.
    - Using the most sophisticated technologies, we can explore and develop oil resources here at home with minimal environmental impact. Our Party continues to support energy development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, holds as much as 16 billion barrels of oil - enough to replace oil imports from Saudi Arabia for nearly 20 years. The drilling footprint can be confined to just 2,000 acres (the entire refuge contains 19 million acres), about the size of Washington's Dulles Airport, on ice roads that melt away in the summer, leaving little trace of human intervention. We have already wasted precious time. If the previous Administration had not vetoed the ANWR proposal passed by the Republican Congress in 1995, at this moment ANWR would be producing up to one million barrels of oil a day.
    - Republicans strongly support removing unnecessary barriers to domestic natural gas production and expanding environmentally sound production in new areas, such as Alaska and the Rocky Mountains. Increasing supply, including the construction of a new natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48, will bring needed relief to consumers and make America's businesses more competitive in the global marketplace.
    - Republicans support measures to modernize the nation's electricity grid to prevent future blackouts and provide American consumers and businesses with more affordable, reliable power. We will work to unleash innovation so entrepreneurs can develop technologies for a more advanced and robust transmission system that meets our growing energy demands. We also support the establishment of mandatory, enforceable reliability rules for electric utilities to reduce the likelihood of future blackouts.
    - Republicans will continue to support renewable energy through extension of the production tax credit for wind and biomass, as well as efforts to expand the use of biodiesel and ethanol, which can reduce America's dependence on foreign oil while increasing revenues to farmers.
    - Nuclear power provides America with affordable, emissions-free energy. We believe nuclear power can help reduce our dependence on foreign energy and play an invaluable role in addressing global climate change. President Bush supports construction of new nuclear power plants through the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative, and continues to move forward on creating an environmentally sound nuclear waste repository.
  - Research and Development
    - The rapid pace of technological development demands that we remain on the leading edge of innovation and science. Republicans are committed to providing the investment and incentives needed to foster next generation technologies.
    - In addition, the President has dedicated $1.7 billion over five years to develop hydrogen fuel cells and related next-generation energy technologies.
Strengthening Our Communities
- Respecting and Protecting the Environment
  - Republicans know that economic prosperity is essential to environmental progress. That belief is supported by compelling historical evidence. For example, over the last 30 years, air pollution from the six major pollutants decreased substantially, even as our population grew, our energy consumption increased, and the economy expanded. Our Party's environmental policies are geared towards results.
- Clear Skies
  - Clear Skies, through a proven cap-and-trade system, will reduce by 70 percent emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. The market-based policies in Clear Skies, along with a 90 percent cut in pollution from diesel vehicles, will help states meet new, more stringent standards to protect public health. . These steps will lead to significant environmental improvements while ensuring a reliable, affordable electricity supply and keeping America's coal industry strong.
- Global Climate Change
  - Republicans are committed to meeting the challenge of long-term global climate change by relying on markets and new technologies to improve energy efficiency. These efforts will help reduce emissions over time while allowing the economy to grow. Our President and our Party strongly oppose the Kyoto Protocol and similar mandatory carbon emissions controls that harm economic growth and destroy American jobs.
- Agriculture and Rural America
  - Farming is the first industry of America - the industry that feeds us, the industry that clothes us, and the industry that increasingly provides more of our energy.

Republican Energy Independence Values

Energy Independence is Necessary for National Defense	Energy Independence is Necessary for Economic Growth
Domestic Energy Resources Should be Opened for Exploration	Energy Production and Refining Should Not be Unduly Restricted
Renewable, Cleaner Energy Resources and Production Should be Developed as Market Forces Determine Not as a Mandate	Reasonable Energy Conservation Should Always be a Goal Rather than a Mandate

Administrative Policy Initiatives

Republican Sponsored Legislature

Judicial Cases

None Found

Advocacy Organizations

Links of Interest

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