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Terry McAuliffe on Energy & Oil Democratic nominee for Governor; previously DNC Chair

Capture wind offshore: for jobs & green energy

There is a lot we can do. We've got over 1,000 megawatts of wind power we could be capturing onshore. Building this capacity would result in $2.7 million in new payments to landowners, $9.1 million in new property tax revenues, over 1,500 new construction jobs and over 200 new long-term jobs.

We also know we can create thousands more jobs by encouraging energy efficiency and supporting people in making their homes and businesses more efficient. These kinds of renovations employ construction workers and keep building supplies moving through the economy, while saving homeowners and businesses money every month on their utility bills.

Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases.

Modernize Environmental Policies
National environmental policies, mostly developed in the 1970s, have been remarkably successful in improving the quality of our air and water. But we face a new set of environmental challenges for which the old strategy of centralized, command-and-control regulation is no longer effective.

The old regime of prohibitions and fines levied on polluters is not well equipped to tackle problems such as climate change, contamination of water from such sources as farm and suburban runoff, loss of open lands, and sprawl. Without relaxing our determination to maintain and enforce mandatory national standards for environmental quality, it is time to create more effective, efficient, and flexible ways of achieving those standards.

For example, a system of tradable emissions permits would give factories, power plants, and other sources of air pollution and greenhouse gases a powerful incentive not only to meet but to exceed environmental standards. Decisions about solving local environmental problems should be shifted from Washington to communities, without weakening national standards. Finally, to empower citizens and communities to make sound decisions, government should invest in improving the quality and availability of information about environmental conditions.

Goals for 2010
• Create a domestic emissions trading system to reduce greenhouse gases by 10 percent.
• Promote innovative agreements for community and regional partnerships to achieve national environmental goals and standards through local strategies.
• End government subsidies for sprawl.