OnTheIssues interviews with presidential candidates: on Energy & Oil

Paul Adams: Encourage exploration for oil and gas in Alaska

A: I'm totally in favor of promoting wave, wind, solar, Tesla, clean coal, and nuclear energy. At the same time a competing fossil fuel energy needs to be competitively priced, and that means encouraging exploration for oil and gas in Alaska, offshore and the Bakken. We must become energy self-sufficient and not rely as much on OPEC energy.

Marc Allan Feldman: Green energy will be prioritized with or without government

A: Support. Green energy will be prioritized with or without government action. Just as there was no need for government to prioritize the growth of the internet, green energy is efficient, effective, and sustainable and it will grow through private investment. Government intrusion and over-regulation only gets in the way. There is a wide consensus on the problem of global climate change. There is no consensus whatsoever on the appropriate solutions. We need research with validated predictive models to make decisions on the basis of good science, not partisan politics, fear, and crony capitalism.

Mark Stewart: Green energy through private companies, not government

A: I would let private concerns prioritize green energy development. Regarding other nations' emissions, that is a Federal domain, and I take it seriously enough to make [the Environmental Protection Agency] a new cabinet-level department. Government funding is never as effective as private funding. Witness our wayward investments in A123, Abound Solar, Beacon Power, Fisker Automotive, Nevada Geothermal, and Solyndra. If a renewable energy idea is feasible IT WILL GET FUNDED PRIVATELY. Relying on grants steers money away from meritorious labs/firms towards labs/firms that are adept politically.

Mark Stewart: Anthropomorphic climate change is unproven, but let's reduce

Mark Stewart: Fan of nuclear power

Mark Stewart: I like Keystone

Jim Hedges: Prioritize green energy

A: strongly agree

Roseanne Barr: Replace coal & oil with alternatives

Q: Support

Virgil Goode: Use coal and oil and alternatives

A: No; use coal, oil and alternatives.

Rocky Anderson: Replace coal & oil with alternatives

A: Strongly Support

Andre Barnett: Alternatives as well as coal & oil

A: Disagree, however we do need to focus on utilizing and developing alternatives

Robert Steele: We have plenty of energy in the USA, but it's corrupt

• We have plenty of energy in the USA--end the federal government corruption on this subject
• KEYSTONE and Tar Sands are a scam externalizing costs to public, focused on export of refined tar sands--the energy companies are lying to the public and Congress
• End all ethanol subsidies while reinvigorating natural gas
• Conservation--including small and medium cities, high speed rail--is next big leap
• Water, not energy, is our next big challenge

Robert Steele: Strongly supports replacing coal & oil with alternatives

A: Strongly Support. There is more than enough energy--including clean coal and real oil (North Dakota)--to meet America's needs. KEYSTONE pipeline and the Canadian Tar Sands are a scam, the energy companies want to externalize true costs (including the use of massive amounts of clean drinkable water from aquifers that are dropping ten meters a year) to the public, while refining this crude for EXPORT. We also have the wrong energy model, focusing on centralized wind farms and other forms of centralized production that lose 50% of the energy enroute to the end user. We need to focus on conservation and on localized energy self-sufficiency.

Scott Keller: Replace coal & oil with alternatives

A: Yes. Our campaign collaboration effort has identified how we can shift quickly from oil and coal over to electric, solar, and geothermal by mobilizing the nation locally and nationally and we have begun sharing these ideas already.

Brian Moore: Develop solar, geothermal, wind, hydropower and biomass

Brian Moore: Phase out nuclear power; rejoin Kyoto Protocol