HOME OBAMA ON THE ISSUES CONGRESS ON THE ISSUES MY REPORT CARD NEWSGOPHER OUR BLOG MORE...
About Us
Partners
Young Voters
Contact Us
Election 2008 Issue Videos
Discussion Board
VoteGopher | Compare McCain and Obama |
PRES. OBAMA VS. CAND. OBAMA
PRESIDENT VS. CONGRESS
ECONOMIC
INTERNATIONAL
DOMESTIC
SOCIAL
POLITICAL
CANDIDATE QUALITIES
Issue Homepage -   Share 
PRESIDENT OBAMA: ACTIONS IN OFFICE

  • To address climate change, wants Congress to pass a cap-and-trade program this year or next year
  • Proposed budget maintaining that 100% of emissions permits should be auctioned off, but leaving other cap and trade design details to Congress
  • Has not yet made climate change a main forcus of his foreign policy team
  • Proposed the largest budget in the EPA's history, increasing its funding by 34%
CANDIDATE OBAMA
ELECTION 2008

  • Proposed cap-and-trade plan to reduce carbon emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050
  • Said that 100% of emissions permits under this plan would be auctioned off, and none would be given away to industries
  • Plan also limited the use of offsets (which allow U.S. companies to meet emissions reduction requirements by paying for emissions cuts in other countries)
  • Said that the U.S. must take the first step in emissions reduction, but all countries must join in
REPUBLICANS
IN CONGRESS

  • Most Republicans in Congress question the scientific basis for climate change and criticize the economic effects of a cap-and-trade program
  • Party leadership and the House GOP are mostly united in this view
  • However, a few prominent GOP senators such as John McCain have voiced support for cap-and-trade
DEMOCRATS
IN CONGRESS

  • Nearly all Congressional Democrats support cap-and-trade legislation on carbon emissions, but they disagree on many details
  • Party leadership supports a bill with limitations on carbon offsets (which allow U.S. companies to meet emissions reduction requirements by paying for emissions cuts in other countries)
  • Democrats representing labor, manufacturing, and agricultural interests want to allow more offsets to soften economic effects

MY REPORT CARD
On :
+ View My Report Card f logo

ISSUE BACKGROUND
Click a subtopic for more information.
See All

Loading...
About VoteGopher | Editorial Policy | Contact Us | Advertise | User Agreement | Privacy Policy

© copyright Votegopher.com

VoteGopher is your one-stop, non-partisan election resource, created by young voters to focus on the issues.


Our recommended web developer