Chris Dodd for President

Amanda Griscom Little has an interview of Senator Dodd on the environment and global warming up in Salon today. Here's a clip of the interview on Dodd's corporate carbon tax plan:

You are the only candidate calling for a carbon tax -- a proposal that some consider political suicide, because you can't make taxes appeal to voters. What are you hearing on the campaign trail about this?

The American people handle the truth very, very well. What they don't handle well is people in public life promising results without talking about what has to be done to get those results.

We're talking about a corporate carbon tax that would generate $50 billion a year, with the likely cost passed on to consumers being about 10 cents per gallon of gasoline. My argument is, yeah, this is not inexpensive, but look what's happening to prices today, under the status quo. Gasoline is about $3 a gallon on average across the country. Many think it's going to go to $4 or $4.50 a gallon later this summer. So prices are going up a lot more than the 10 cents a gallon we're talking about.

Even if your prices were not going up that high, we spend about $300 billion a year to purchase fossil fuels offshore. About $100 billion goes to countries who are very hostile to our interests. So the status quo is both dangerous and costly.

Do you have any anecdotes from the campaign trail where you talk to voters about this and they say, "Hey, I get it"?

Yeah, they do. It takes you more than a bumper sticker to say it, so if you're looking for bumper stickers I don't have one yet for you. But I'm finding a very strong reaction to it. People are recognizing that this makes sense from a health standpoint, an environmental standpoint, a national security standpoint, a job creation standpoint.

How will the revenues of your proposed carbon tax be spent?

They'll be placed into a Corporate Carbon Tax Trust Fund to fund fast-tracked research, development and deployment of renewable technologies such as wind, solar, ethanol and other biofuels. It will also expedite the process for bringing energy-efficient technologies to market and ensure energy-efficient products such as bulbs and household appliances are price competitive, and it will offer tax credits on hybrids and other clean and efficient automobiles to make these cars affordable for all Americans. Being wealthy should not be a prerequisite to living green.

MoveOn.org is holding a virtual Town Hall on climate change. Democratic presidential candidates all answer questions posed by MoveOn members on the climate. The Town Hall is connected to a straw poll vote on which candidate presented the best climate policy -- vote for Chris Dodd today! Here are Senator Dodd's answers to questions posed by MoveOn members: How does your plan on climate crisis differ from other candidates? Do you support the use of and subsidies for liquid coal? How will Americans, not just corporations, benefit from new energy economy? I hope you liked what you've seen - now go vote for Chris Dodd today!

Earlier this week the Dodd campaign's offices in DC and Connecticut, as well as the early primary states, went carbon neutral. We're carrying through on our earlier commitment to make our campaign carbon neutral. We've teamed up with CarbonFund, who will be providing our carbon offsets. Senator Dodd said:

All Americans have a role to play in securing our energy independence, and I'm excited that our campaign will do its part. We must all do our share to begin turning the clock back on global warming and reducing our carbon footprint will go along way in stopping global climate change.

CarbonFund is a leader in the fight against climate change and works with individuals as well as business and organizations to help eliminate their climate impact. We at the Dodd campaign are excited to be doing our part to run green offices. Until we have leadership that will enact bold changes in America's energy policy, as Senator Dodd has proposed, the onus is on us to do what we can to limit the growth of global warming. In addition to purchasing carbon offsets, we also have an aggressive recycling program to ensure that as little waste goes to the landfill as possible. Chris Dodd’s bold energy plan is setting the standard in the presidential race. With a Corporate Carbon Tax that makes polluters pay to his call for historic fuel efficiency standards that break America’s dependence on Middle East oil by 2015, Chris Dodd is the only candidate in the field with a plan to make America the world leader on climate change and bring energy costs down for families and businesses.

The Dodd campaign has released a new television ad, "Global" -- it's on the air in New Hampshire and Iowa. Senator Chris Dodd laid out a bold plan to reduce not only America’s dependence on Middle East oil, but also global warming causing greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the Dodd plan includes an ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. In addition, the Dodd plan calls for making the Production Tax Credit permanent. By doing so, energy companies will have the incentive to develop alternative energy sources, like wind and solar power, with the knowledge that they will continue to receive an economic incentive for their innovation. Chris Dodd is the only presidential candidate to call for a Corporate Carbon Tax. The Dodd energy plan calls for enacting a Corporate Carbon Tax, which will discourage big corporate polluters and stimulate innovation by placing collected revenues, estimated at approximately $50 billion annually, into a trust fund. The fund will be used to foster fast tracked research, development and deployment of renewable technologies such as wind, solar, as well as ethanol and other biofuels. It will also be used to develop ways to expedite the process for bringing energy efficient technologies to market. Global warming is an issue, like the Iraq War, that requires bold leadership today. Chris Dodd is ready to lead and our new ad makes this clear.

This Saturday afternoon Senator Dodd spoke at a backyard gathering in Portsmouth, NH. Below is the entirety of his remarks split into five segments -- after the first segment Senator Dodd answers questions from people in attendance. Part 1: Senator Dodd talks about the war in Iraq and the Peace Corps. Part 2: Senator Dodd talks about energy policy, foreign policy, immigration, and missile defense. Part 3: Senator Dodd talks about health care, habeas corpus, and internationalism. Part 4: Senator Dodd talks about energy policies and decision making.