Where Do the Presidential Candidates Stand on Energy Issues? Part II

by Bob Shively, Enerdynamics President and Lead Facilitator

Well, the field of presidential candidates shrunk a bit since we posted Part I of this article. With Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropping out of the race, there are three candidates left. Last week we looked at the stance each candidate (Cruz and Kasich included) has taken on four energy issues: overall policy, renewables, ethanol mandates, and fossil fuels.

Continuing our discussion but focusing on the three remaining candidates, here’s a brief overview of how Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump each view nuclear energy, energy efficiency, and climate change regulation.

Issue 5: Nuclear

Sanders — Wants to progressively halt nuclear license renewals to ultimately phase out nuclear power
Clinton — Says she is agnostic (neither supports nor opposes)
Trump — Believes nuclear is an underutilized resource; strong supporter of further development of nuclear resources

Issue 6: Energy efficiency

Sanders — Strongly supports as a key part of energy policy
Clinton — Favors cutting energy waste by 30%; wants to bring efficiency to low-income citizens
Trump — Position unknown

Issue 7: Climate change regulation

Sanders — Favors the Clean Power Plan (CPP); wants to implement a national carbon tax
Clinton — Favors the CPP; plans to create $60 billion Clean Energy Challenge; supports a North American Climate compact with Canada and Mexico
Trump — Does not believe in man-made climate change; opposes any regulation on carbon emissions including the CPP

From these positions, the point is clear. If you want to make your voting decision based on a candidates’ energy views, you have a very distinct choice to make.

Want to do your own research on candidates’ stances on energy? Here are some online resources that may help:

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Enerdynamics was formed in 1995 to meet the growing demand for timely, dynamic and effective business training in the gas and electric industries. Our comprehensive education programs are focused on teaching you and your employees the business of energy. And because we have a firm grasp of what's happening in our industry on both a national and international scale, we can help you make sense of a world that often makes no sense at all.

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