How The Republicans Stack Up

Global Warming. No Republican candidates mention climate as a front-burner issue. None has published a detailed energy policy, so it's difficult to distinguish between them except in broad brushstrokes.

McCain, who has been endorsed by Republicans for Environmental Protection, was a co-sponsor of the first Senate bill designed to tackle climate change, way back in 2003 -- making him an early and vocal supporter of action. That law would have reduced carbon dioxide emissions 30% below 2004 levels by 2050. He still supports a cap-and-trade system for reducing greenhouse gas pollution, but hasn't said whether that would be his goal as president.

Gov. Mike Huckabee is the only other Republican to endorse a cap-and-trade regulation, and he hasn't said anything specific about the goals he'd set.

Two candidates -- Reps. Ron Paul and Tom Trancedo -- are the only candidates to openly oppose a cap-and-trade system. Paul opposes government regulation of virtually any stripe, and Tancredo has said he would be very skeptical of any cap-and-trade regulation. The other candidates -- Rep. Duncan Hunter, Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Fred Thompson -- haven't gone on the record either way, though Romney kept Massachusetts from joining a coalition of Northeast states that is setting up a cap-and-trade rule for power plants, and Hunter has voted against similar rules in Conigress.

For most of the Republican candidates, energy policy is centered around achieving "energy independence" in one form or another, as a plank of national security policy. That means they're more likely than Democrats to embrace nuclear power, increased use of domestic coal and fossil fuel exploration in North America, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Vehicle Efficiency.McCain and Huckabee have said they support increases in vehicle fuel economy. Romney has said he'd consider mandated increases to fuel economy only as a last resort.

Some SpecificsHere's a look at policies that specifics that may set one candidate apart from other Republicans, in alphabetical order, but only including those candidates that have said something that sets them apart from their competitors:

• Giuliani would create EnergyStat, a public Web-based database of energy statistics, to "continuously monitor and measure a selected set of indicators that are specifically tied to the effective management of initiatives on energy independence and climate change."
• Huckabee would end federal property and income taxes in favor of a consumption tax, and he has framed that change as a way to boost ingenuity in the development of new energy sources.
• Paul would end all energy subsidies, and act to "internalize" the costs of energy production so that polluters pay for environmental damages done to others' properties.
• Romney has said the United States should spend as much on new energy research and development as it spends on similar defense, space and health initiatives.
• Tancredo would require federal agencies to purchase alternative energy vehicles, a policy that Democrats have endorsed, but other Republican candidates haven't talked about.

For more details about the Republican 2008 presidential candidates, including Hunter and Thompson, see The Daily Green's Green Your Vote 2008 election guide.

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