Editor’s note: We’re very happy to welcome Mike Garofalo and SmartPower to GO! Every Wednesday, Mike’s "Power to the People" column will look at the energy proposals of the declared candidates for President of the United States.

Hello GO Community! My name is Mike Garofalo and I am the Communications Director for SmartPower, a national non-profit marketing organization that promotes clean energy use all across the United States. In the last five years we have helped more than 20,000 homeowners commit to buying clean energy. We have also taught them that clean energy is just as reliable as any other type of energy. That is our mission and so far 80 municipalities in three states have committed to our "20% by 2010" (sm) campaign.

The terrific folks at Green Options graciously invited me to share with you a weekly blog about what the presidential candidates, who are campaigning up here in New Hampshire, are saying about clean energy and energy independence. Now if you have never been to New Hampshire during a presidential primary, you are truly missing something special. The NH Presidential Primary is not won with slick ads and expensive marketing campaigns. It is won by campaigning in coffee shops, town halls, and in your neighbor’s living room. Each week, we will take a look at a different candidate, both Democrats and Republicans, and I will report to you exactly how they answered my questions about clean energy and energy independence.

Early in the campaign season, US Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) came to NH and held town hall meetings at both Dartmouth College in Hanover, and at New England College in Henniker. Town hall meetings are very popular here. They give the candidate an opportunity to answer a wide variety of questions and it gives "average citizens" an opportunity to see the candidates in a more formal setting than in someone’s living room.

Although Biden was here to discuss his plans for getting US troops out of Iraq, he did take questions on a limited number of other topics. Being that this is my 10th NH Presidential Primary season (Yikes!), I am pretty adept at asking candidates about topics other than what they may want to talk about.

During the meeting, I asked Biden what his plans were for making America energy independent, should he get elected. Biden said, "Our dependence on fossil fuels is ruining our environment. In 2005 Senator Dick Lugar and I co-sponsored a bipartisan Senate Resolution calling on the United States to return to international negotiations on climate change. I think that we can strengthen our national security by reducing our oil consumption." I was able to ask a follow-up – ok, the trick to doing that is to remain standing while the candidate answers your first question. Under no circumstances should you simply nod and sit back down, which is exactly what they want you to do. I asked Biden what role clean, renewable energy would play in a Biden Administration. He said, "We should immediately be transitioning to farm-grown fuels like ethanol and dramatically increasing our use of renewable energy – wind, water and solar. That is what my administration would encourage."

Like virtually every candidate, Biden’s campaign has issued a comprehensive energy plan and has specific plans on how to deal with climate change. His plan, strangely, is ‘heavy’ on fuel requirements and ‘light’ on plans for renewable energy.

Some of the highlights of his energy plan are:

• Increasing CAFÉ standards to 40 mpg by 2017
• Invest in lithium ion battery technology for plug-in hybrids
• Require new vehicles be flex-fuel vehicles
• Require gas stations to sell alternative fuels
• Increase the amount of farm-grown fuel in our fuel supply
• Commit $5B into research on new alternative fuels
• Set a National Renewable Portfolio Standard of 20%
• Require federal government to purchase 10% clean energy by 2010 and 20% by 2020
• Make federal buildings more energy efficiency
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050
• Restore US leadership on climate change.

Biden’s campaign is seemingly ‘stalled’ here in NH. Consequently, hehas made 23 visits this year
to Iowa, and only 8 visits to NH. His only statewide campaign office is headquartered in the IBEW hall in the capital city of Concord.

Perhaps Senator Joe is just "Biden his time!"

SmartPower
Joe Biden for President: Energy

Image source: Joe Biden’s Photos at Flickr