Md. 6th District candidates talk about global warming

October 27, 2008

As part of this month's coverage of the Nov. 4 election for Maryland's 6th District seat in Congress, The Herald-Mail asked the three candidates to respond in up to 100 words to a few questions about issues.

Last week, the candidates talked about immigration.

This week's question is: How should the federal government react to global warming?

U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Republican: There are many people and organizations concerned about climate change. Others focus on reducing the threat to our economy and national security from dependence upon imported oil. Many worry about the impact of fossil fuels on our environment. Some urge preparing for maximum world oil production or "peak oil." I encourage all of them to stop criticizing each others' premises. Joining together to change federal government policies to encourage individuals and companies to support conservation, energy efficiency and cleaner, domestic alternative and renewable sources of energy will be the most cost-effective ways to address all of these concerns.

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Jennifer Dougherty, Democrat: This is how we can rebuild our economy! The U.S. can promote a green economy, convert to renewable energy and conserve energy to reduce our impact on climate change. Goals should include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 with a cap and trade policy, improving fuel-efficiency standards, building more hybrid vehicles, promoting mass transit and encouraging conservation. I support local investment in a biofuels refinery for switchgrasses or algae for our cars and trucks, and a "Get Off the Grid" program that encourages local communities to convert to renewable energy supplies like wind or solar.

Gary W. Hoover Sr., Libertarian: We need to address global warming and understand that we are part of the problem; we, the United States, consume 25 percent of the world energy. We need a Manhattan-like focus on an energy policy for our country where we would be using less and less fossil fuels that cause some of the global warming. We need to invest in wind power, biofuels and solar, clean coal, nuclear. This would not only help us to reduce global warming, but also help us become energy-independent and create millions of new green jobs that cannot be exported from our country.

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