Chris Dodd is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. He is a Democrat and was elected to the US House of Representatives as part of the "Watergate Freshman Class of 1974." He served in the House until 1980, when he was elected to the Senate. Dodd is married and he and his second wife, Jackie, have two young daughters. Dodd’s father, Thomas, was a 2-term US Senator from Connecticut as well.

Dodd has visited the Granite State on many occasions. His 39 days spent in New Hampshire (as of October 23rd) ranks him in 2nd place, just behind former Senator John Edwards, and just ahead of Governor Bill Richardson.

Dodd’s campaign was one of the first to announce a very comprehensive energy plan. His campaign highly touts the praise they received on his campaign website:

"Very creative" — Former Vice President Al Gore
"Ambitious …. Aggressive" — League of Conservation Voters
"Dodd gets it." — Former Senator Bill Bradley
"A serious policy …" — Senator John Kerry

Dodd came to Nashua, NH, back in April, to discuss this plan. I asked him for some highlights of this plan and he stated, "I am one of the only major candidates who has the courage to call for a carbon tax. I want this money to go into a fund to support renewable energy and cleaning the environment. Let the polluters pay."

This carbon tax proposal has encouraged much debate among the candidates. While Dodd fully supports a carbon tax, some candidates do not. The opponents of a carbon tax state that if one were instituted, consumers, ultimately, would wind up paying for it, through increased costs for the goods that they purchase. Dodd, however, is undeterred in his support for a corporate carbon tax trust fund, the proceeds from which would be used for research and development of renewable energy technologies. While most candidates oppose suggesting any new taxes on the campaign trail, Dodd feels that the American public can handle the truth, even when it will be unpopular.

Dodd further told me, "We absolutely need to expand our renewable capabilities and usage. I do not support expanding nuclear options, but I do want to encourage wind, water, solar and biofuels expansion."

Dodd is obviously unafraid to express his opinions about supporting renewable energy (which is the majority position of all of the Democratic candidates) but he seems to have mixed feelings about his very limited support for nuclear power. He is careful to state that while it should be an option to reduce global warming, he has great concerns about nuclear waste, and he hopes that technology may provide an answer to its safe disposal.

I also asked Dodd if he would support SmartPower’s "20% by 2010"^SM program for the US government. The SmartPower program assists municipalities and organizations to commit to purchase 20% of their electricity needs from clean and renewable sources, such as wind, solar, and small hydro, by the year 2010. That was an idea that Dodd likes; he says he wants all US government offices to use clean energy for all their needs. In fact, Dodd now proposes that the United States get 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Dodd also strongly supports a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 80% from 1990 levels by the year 2050, which is the amount that most scientists agree is necessary to begin to reverse the effects of global warming.

Dodd’s energy plan combines his carbon tax with a cap-and-trade program and significantly higher CAFÉ standards — Dodd proposes a 50 MPG for new cars and trucks by 2017.

But Dodd doesn’t support every new energy technology. He opposes coal liquification technology. Dodd has stated that turning coal into liquid fuel does not reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and it works against the overall goal of fighting global climate change.

Dodd’s energy plan requires any and all new coal plants to capture and sequester CO2 without any exceptions or exclusions.

He does encourage government support for ethanol, cellulosic ethanol and other similar types of biofuels. In fact Dodd would require that new federal automobile fleets be run on E85 ethanol or other biofuels.

Dodd also would sign the Kyoto protocol because he believes that even without China’s and India’s agreement and cooperation, the United States should lead the world in fighting greenhouse gas emissions.

Finally, Dodd opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Whether you agree or disagree with the elements of Dodd’s energy plan, you have to admit it is bold and aggressive. Whether it attracts enough support in New Hampshire to catapult Dodd into the top tier of candidates in the next few months remains to be seen. Keep watching!

Next week: Republican Congressman Ron Paul

SmartPower — the national non-profit marketing organization that is creating a voluntary market for clean energy and energy efficiency.

Senator Chris Dodd’s Presidential Campaign Website

Image Credit: New York Times

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Mike Garofalo’s Previous "Power to the People" columns