Power to the People: Pride Goeth Before Ron Paul ….
Republican Congressman Ron Paul has been a member of the US House sporadically since 1976. He served terms of 1976 to 1977, 1979 to 1985, and 1997 to present, always serving different Congressional districts of Texas. Paul is a licensed physician and practiced for a number of years before entering politics. He is married, and he and his wife, Carol Wells, have 5 children. Paul ran for President once before, as the Libertarian candidate in 1988. Interestingly, he ran as the Libertarian nominee while registered as a Republican.
Paul has not visited New Hampshire very often. In fact, only Fred Thompson, who entered the presidential race a month ago in September, has visited NH less often than Ron Paul. That may explain why Congressman Paul is mired at 3% in the most recent NH poll.
Paul visited WMUR-TV, Channel 9, and appeared on their popular Conversations with a Candidate program in February. I had the opportunity to ask Congressman Paul if he believed that global warming was a serious problem. His response, "I don’t think that the jury has fully come in on global warming. There is still a lot of debate on that subject."
Given that context, I followed up by asking Paul if he felt that we need to embrace clean energy. Paul’s response: "I am a Free Trader and I think that if Clean Energy were a viable option, it would be more economical in the marketplace."
My final question centered on how Paul felt we should deal with making America energy independent. Paul stated, "We should look at more domestic drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and we should look at nuclear power as well as a short-term solution."
Paul’s positions, regrettably, are fairly predictable for this self-avowed free trader. Paul supports and believes as follows:
- He doesn’t believe that climate change is an important issue to voters. He has stated that some global warming may be occurring naturally and may not be caused by human beings.
- In a speech before the US House in 2006, Paul stated that "environmentalists go back and forth warning about a coming ice age to then arguing about the dangers of global warming. Fear is constantly generated by politicians to rally the support of the people."
- Paul has voted in favor of offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf. He has also voted for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
- Paul would end all subsidies of any kind to all energy companies, including oil companies.
- Paul would suspend the federal gasoline tax when retail gasoline prices hit $3 a gallon.
- Paul co-sponsored legislation that would fast track the federal approval process for oil refinery construction or expansion.
- Paul voted in 2001 against raising CAFÉ standards to 27.5 mpg for 2005 and 2006 cars and trucks.
- Paul supports expanding the use of domestic coal as a fuel source. "Technology is improving all the time and by using coal this might be something that can help the US become more energy independent."
- Paul opposes domestic subsidies for the corn industry to support ethanol.
- Paul opposes offering any federal subsidies to the energy technology sector, much like oil, gas and coal have received for many years. As a free market trader, Paul believes that the market will only support the best product at the best price. All subsidies should be stopped.
- Paul opposes a carbon tax. Paul believes that the carbon tax is like legalizing pollution.
- According to Paul, energy independence does not mean that the US has to produce every single ounce of energy used. Paul believes that independence means having no government-mandated policy. If you need oil or energy, you can simply buy it.
- Paul thinks nuclear is a great source of power for the future. Paul believes "…it’s the safest form of energy we have." (Seriously, he actually believes that!)
Paul’s positions are predictable for a free trader and Libertarian at heart, and so will be his finish in the New Hampshire Republican primary. It is highly unlikely that his views will garner double-digit support in the Granite State.
Stay tuned to see if NH voters have the common sense for which I am giving them credit.
Next week: Former Senator Mike Gravel, Democrat from Alaska
SmartPower — the national, non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a voluntary market for clean energy and energy independence
Ron Paul for President Campaign
NH Republican Presidential Poll
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Tags: Alternative Fuels, Climate Change, climate+change, global+warming, New+Hampshire, Political News, Politics, Presidential+Primary, Renewable Power, Ron+Paul
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November 1st, 2007 at 8:06 am
This is too funny. Obviously, lots of Ron Paul supporters are monitoring blog postings about their unlikely hero.
So let me chime in.
1. Global warming is a scam.
2. Evolution is a scam.
3. Science is a scam.
4. Regulation based on science is a scam.
Oh, to be a Republican!
November 1st, 2007 at 9:11 am
Hi Mike,
Others have pointed out some of the mistaken impressions you’ve presented about Ron Paul. I’ve been reading him for about thirty years, and his consistent property rights philosophy does not lend itself to sound bites, but as a long term user and activist in the renewable energy, I think it has the best chance of actually moving us towards a more sustainable energy and environmental future. The simple (not easy) move of putting all energy on an even playing field, by removing all subsidies and requiring all technologies to be responsible for their effects would be an amazing change.
Please dig a little deeper with Dr. Paul. His positions are not as ugly or as simple as you’re portraying. I do have my concerns about some things he has said, particularly about nukes and ANWAR, but they need to be put into the context of his overall positions and philosophy. And as others have suggested, we shouldn’t be comparing his ideas to nothing, or to a perfect system, since those aren’t real options. Bringing responsibility for energy and the environment directly back to people has a lot going for it. As someone who teaches about renewable energy on a regular basis, I would love to see subsidies on fossil fuels and nukes vanish, so renewables would look much less expensive. I would also love to see Price-Anderson repealed, and have a leader who doesn’t want a carbon tax because he doesn’t want to encourage pollution by letting polluters pay their way out instead of ending the dumping of pollutants on others.
Again, your lightweight treatment of Dr. Paul’s very deep philosophy is undeserved. And while the title of your article is cute, it doesn’t seem connected to the content. In addition, one of the things I like most about Dr. Paul is his humility. It would be remarkable to have a man in office who is not there because he thinks he knows everything, but because he wants to get back to letting individuals make the most important decisions in the world.
Regards,
Ian
November 1st, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Mike,
Dr. Paul being supposedly “mired” at 3% is old news:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/press-releases/16/ron-paul-gaining-momentum-in-new-hampshire
An important word about polls though. Part of the reason our presidential campaigns are starting so ridiculously early is precisely because of these polls. The polls tend to gravitate part of the public toward candidates early on due to name recognition and knowledge of one or two positions, and establish the early frontrunners. Then, an unfortunate glass ceiling is set up for any mid-level candidates that are working hard to get their own message out and have made progress, because unfortunately for them lagging poll numbers create the illusion that they’re “mired” at the old percentages. Also, the polls continue to use obsolete sampling techniques. For instance, much of Dr. Paul’s large population of supporters are energized by what they’ve been able to find out about all of his governing principles at his web site. Most of avid Internet users also use technology in other ways, and many have gone to doing away with their land line phones. Since the polling organizations depend on data of previous voters, who are considered “likely” future voters, the cell phone users are disproportionately lost from the “random” sample. Mid-level candidates’ forward momentum then is artificially hindered by the publishing of these polls that inaccurately show them in a much lower position than they really are.
Dr. Paul’s supporters, because of their enthusiasm, self-motivated researching of the candidates’ issue positions, and understanding of the effect of inaccurate polling data, are much less likely to be discouraged from actually going to the polls and voting in the primary.
I think you will be surprised at how much better Dr. Paul does in the New Hampshire primaries. He is focusing much attention on doing well there, as are all of the candidates, because he realizes that a good showing will cause voters in other states - and the media - to take a much closer look at his campaign. Once he gets beyond the artificial boundaries created by the polls, you’ll see a significant breakout increase in the momentum of his candidacy.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:34 pm
The world is warming but the question is how much of that is due to Man. If you overlay the graph of global temperatures with CO2 levels the temperature rise PRECEEDS the C02 rise so C02 is not the cause. Also there is ALOT of evidence that mans pollution is actually contributing to a Global Cooling trend which is slowing the warming trend! Scientists have tracked and measured that the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface of the earth is actually 20% less then it was in the 1950’s. When we grounded all AIR travel after 9/11 the temperature ROSE 3degs across the entire US because we were not putting all the contrails in the sky. If pride goes before a fall it will be on those that make predictions without first understanding the full weather system. I also think nuclear power can be done safely France is doing it just fine.
Ron is against ALL subsidies and Government regulation so his voting against them is no surprise. There are other ways to achieve Americas goals then government force and carrot/stick politics.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Those of us who support Nuclear Power DO have a solution for Nuclear waste! It’s called a breeder reacter( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeder_reactor ), and it processes that waste until the fuel has been completely expended. However, government interference has prevented such technology from being used in the US. Ron Paul AGREES with you about getting rid of subsidies.