John Edwards (Former Presidential Candidate)
John Edwards
D-North
Biography
EDWARDS, John, a Senator from North Carolina; born in Seneca, South Carolina on June 10, 1953; attended public schools in Robbins, North Carolina; B.A. North Carolina State University 1974; J.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 1977; textile mill worker; attorney and partner with Edwards & Kirby, Raleigh, N.C.; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and served from January 3, 1999, to January 3, 2005; was not a candidate for reelection to the Senate, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004; was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President on the Democratic ticket with John F. Kerry in 2004.
JOHN EDWARDS' RECORD ON SCIENCE
Senator Edwards dropped out of the Democratic Presidential Primary on January 30, 2008.
[edit] Environment
[edit] Arctic National Wildlife Refugee (ANWR)
Edwards voted for a resolution to prevent the consideration drilling in ANWR during the consideration of a 2003 energy bill. He also voted against the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee Amendment (S. Amdt. 3133) to allow drilling in ANWR on national security grounds in 2002.
[edit] Energy
On March 20, 2007, Senator Edwards announced an energy plan designed to help America achieve energy independence and stop global warming. The plan requires power companies to draw 25% of their power from renewable energy sources by 2025 and sets a national goal of reducing oil imports by 7.5 million barrels a day by 2025. Edwards also calls for the production of 65 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2025 and would invest $1 billion a year to help auto-makers invest in new technologies including biofuels and hybrids. He would also raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 40 mpg by 2016. The Edwards proposal also seeks to reduce pollution globally by creating an international climate treaty that would include developing countries.
[edit] Evolution/Intelligent Design
During a 2005 speech at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Edwards stated that he does not believe that intelligent design should be taught in schools, citing the need for a separation between church and state.
[edit] Global Warming
Edwards’ energy plan includes placing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 and creating a cap-and-trade system that would lower the cap each year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. The plan also proposes creating a New Energy Economy Fund from profits derived from repealing subsidies to large oil companies and proceeds from auctioning off $10 billion worth of pollution permits. The fund would support research and development in energy technology and help entrepreneurs start small businesses focusing on energy initiatives. Edwards stated that creating this fund and the new energy economy will create one million “green collar jobs” in the renewable and clean energy fields. The proposal also calls for investing $1 billion a year in research into clean coal technology.
[edit] Healthcare
On February 5, 2007, Edwards became the first Democratic presidential candidate to announce a detailed healthcare plan. With Edwards' proposal, all American residents will be eventually required to get health insurance. The plan would expand Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) and create Regional Health Care markets to lower costs and give consumers a choice between private insurance or a public insurance plan modeled on Medicare. His plan calls for universal coverage and provides tax credits to make insurance purchased through the Regional Health Markets more affordable. Businesses would be required to either provide coverage for their employees or help finance their healthcare costs through the Regional Health Markets.
Edwards also has a plan to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.
In an January 25, 2008 interview with the NY Times, Edwards said that he was not opposed to his health care plan leading to a single-payer government run system, though the “American health consumers will decide which works best."
[edit] Stem Cell Research
Edwards supports the expansion of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.
[edit] Speeches on Science and Health Issues
[edit] SCIENCE IN THE DEBATES:
MSNBC Democratic Debate, January 15th, 2008
Question: Senator Edwards, you say you're against nuclear power, but a reality check. I talked to the folks at the MIT Energy Initiative, and they put it this way: that in 2050 the world's population is going to go from 6 billion to 9 billion; that the CO2 is going to double; that you could build a nuclear power plant, one per week, and it wouldn't meet the world's needs. Something must be done, and it cannot be done just with wind or solar.
Edwards: Well, you have to -- there a lot of things that need to be done. If you were to double the number of nuclear power plants on the planet tomorrow, if that were possible, it would deal with about one-seventh of the greenhouse gas problem. This is not the answer.
And it goes beyond wind and solar. We ought to be investing in other cellulose-based biofuels. There are a whole range of things that we ought to be investing in and focusing on....Now, what we need, in my judgment, is we need a cap on carbon emissions. That cap needs to come down every year. We need an 80 percent reduction in our carbon emissions by the year 2050. Below the cap, we ought to make the polluters pay. That money ought to be invested in all these clean renewable sources of energy -- wind, solar, cellulose-based biofuel.
As I said earlier, I'm opposed to building more nuclear power plants, but I'd go another step that at least I haven't heard these two candidates talk about. They can answer for themselves. I believe we need a moratorium on the building of any more coal-fired power plants, unless and until we have the ability to capture and sequester the carbon underground. Because every time we build a new coal-fired power plant in America, when we don't have that technology attached to it, what happens is we're making a terrible situation worse. We're already the worst polluter on the planet. America needs to be leading by example.
Huffington Post/Slate/Yahoo Candidate Mash-up, September 13, 2007
Question: Sen. Edwards, you've suggested that Americans should give up their SUVs for the sake of the environment, but a recent UN study found that deforestation for the purpose of creating grazing land for cattle and methane emissions from cattle generated more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars and planes in the world, so it's not just the SUVs, it's the c-o-w-s. Taking a shot at SUVs was gutsy. Do you want to take a shot at meat?
Edwards: …The deforestation is a huge issue. He's absolutely correct about that. Obviously, our trees, our plants play an enormous role in keeping the environment appropriately balanced over time. I think we do have to, particularly if we're looking at the long-term consequences of what we're doing to the climate to the temperature of the Earth, those are things that have to be looked at and taken into account. The one thing I would add to that, though, is I actually saw a study just over the last few days. It didn't get much attention in the United States, but I think it was done by American scientists if I remember correctly that suggested the possibility that the polar ice cap at the rate we're going now could melt over the next 23 years. I think that is some indication of how serious the crisis this climate change and global warming is. I want to see both the presidential candidates and myself as the next president of the United States lead the charge on dealing with this crisis in a really aggressive way. Because we have to. I mean, first of all, we have to get off our addiction to oil in America. We use 22 million barrels a day. I've laid out a specific set of ideas about how to do that, reducing greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050 and transforming the way we use and produce energy in this country…..
CNN/Youtube Democratic Debate, July 23, 2007
Question: …I believe that nuclear power is safer, cleaner, and provides a quicker avenue to energy independence than other alternatives. I am curious what each of you believe.
Edwards: Wind, solar, cellulose-based biofuels are the way we need to go. I do not favor nuclear power. We haven't built a nuclear power plant in decades in this country. There is a reason for that. The reason is it is extremely costly. It takes an enormous amount of time to get one planned, developed and built. And we still don't have a safe way to dispose of the nuclear waste. It is a huge problem for America over the long term. I also don't believe we should liquefy coal. The last thing we need is another carbon-based fuel in America. We need to find fuels that are in fact renewable, clean, and will allow us to address directly the question that has been raised, which is the issue of global warming, which I believe is a crisis.
