Energy and the presidential race

CNNMoney.com asked the leading presidential candidates 6 questions we think are central to the country's twin energy challenge: Satisfying growing energy demand while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The leading candidates were chosen based on the most recent national polls. Responses come directly from the candidates or their public statements.

Rudy Giuliani
The former New York City mayor is surprisingly vague about what his energy policy would be as president.Despite his front-runner status in the Republican field, Giuliani's position on energy issues is the least well-developed: It's not easy to see where he stands on 4 of the 6 questions. Giuliani is the only candidate who hasn't clearly stated his energy policy on his official Web site.However, a position paper provided to CNNMoney.com by Giuliani's campaign said the candidate supports renewable technologies, biofuel, clean coal, expanding nuclear power and conservation measures. But the paper didn't set any specific targets for energy consumption or renewable funding.Giuliani supports increased oil drilling. "America must expand environmentally-responsible access to the proven oil and natural gas reserves," the paper stated. But it didn't mention whether he supports additional drilling in U.S. coastal waters or opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.Like all the Republican candidates, Giuliani does not support tax increases of any kind, presumably ruling out a gas tax hike.

Mike Huckabee
The up-and-comer's views on energy issues match those of Democrats except that he supports drilling in Alaska.The former Arkansas governor, who has surged in recent polls, says achieving energy independence would be one of his top priorities."We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass," reads a statement on the candidate's Web site.Huckabee supports proposals in Congress that would boost vehicle gas mileage from 25 miles a gallon to 35 miles a gallon by 2020, require utilities to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable power by 2020 and install a mandatory cap on carbon dioxide emissions, according to the environmental news site Grist.org.He also supports oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in offshore U.S. waters, according to Grist.

John McCain
John McCain has been a long-time supporter of carbon caps and wants some new drilling in U.S. coastal waters.McCain has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration for failing to cap carbon emissions, and he has pushed for a mandatory carbon cap as early as 2003."Strengthening our energy security goes hand-in-hand with addressing global climate change, which is real with human activity contributing to the buildup of greenhouse gases," the McCain campaign said in an email to CNNMoney.com.He favors raising fuel efficiency standards, but didn't say by how much. He did not vote for a recent Senate bill that included over $20 billion in new funding for renewables and conservation, paid largely by new taxes on the oil industry. Critics of that bill, including the White House, said it would crimp domestic energy production, raising prices for consumers.The McCain campaign supports limited new drilling off the U.S. coast, but opposes it in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

Mitt Romney
Romney supports drilling in Alaska and higher fuel efficiency standards, but breaks with most other candidates when it comes to capping carbon emissions.The Utah Governor, currently seeing resurgence in the Iowa polls, makes much of energy independence."Our military and economic strength depend on our becoming energy independent -- moving past symbolic measures to actually produce as much energy as we use," Romney said on his Web site.To that end, he wants to "dramatically increase" federal funding for a host of alternative energy technologies, although he doesn't support raising taxes on oil companies to do it."When you tax something, you get less of it," Romney said in an email to CNNMoney.com. "If we raise taxes on investment in domestic energy, we will have less domestic energy production, and will therefore become even more dependent on foreign supplies."Romney does support drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge as a way to wean the country off foreign oil.Romney is unclear about whether or not he supports federal caps on carbon emissions. Most other candidates -- except for Giuliani -- strongly support such a measure.While he indicated that reducing our carbon footprint was important, he did not directly address the question of whether or not he supports federal caps on emissions. "While it is likely that human activity is contributing to climate change, I am not sure how much, or what we can do to significantly reduce or reverse this effect," Romney said in the email.

Hillary Clinton
The Democratic front-runner favors the broad energy goals set by the Democratic-controlled Congress.Like the other main Democratic candidates, Clinton wouldn't raise the gas tax and is opposed to drilling in the Arctic but supports carbon caps, conservation and taxing Big Oil."A cap-and-trade system [for carbon dioxide] is a better approach [than a gas tax] because it guarantees that we will meet our environmental goals - something that a gasoline tax cannot," Clinton said in an email to CNNMoney.com.Like all the Democrats, the New York senator supports a mandatory carbon cap that would cut emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. That is the amount scientists say is necessary to avoid widespread flooding and drought.Clinton also supports an increase in fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030.

John Edwards
Edwards is also solidly in the Democrats' energy camp, but he holds some novel ideas of his own.Edwards has plans that are in line with his party on raising mileage standards, taxing Big Oil, funding renewables and using more green power."Our generation must be the one that builds the new energy economy," Edwards said on his Web site. "It is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war."Edwards highlights the farmer and the contributions rural America can have in combating global warming.In addition to a big biofuels mandate, he'd allow farmers to sell carbon credits to industry if they mange their land in a climate-friendly way, like by planting more trees or capturing methane emissions from cattle.He'd also create a "GreenCorps," a kind of domestic PeaceCorps that would enlist young people to weatherize homes, install solar panels and do other energy-related projects.

Barack Obama
Although generally aligned with other Democrats on the bigger energy issues, Obama highlights urban development patterns in his energy policies.Like Clinton, Obama plans on investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to promote alternative energy and conservation. He would require the nation's utilities to get 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025, a higher standard than the one recently proposed and rejected in Congress.Unlike Clinton, Obama's Web site talks extensively of saving energy by reshaping the way the country builds its communities."We know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land-use decisions and development patterns, much of which have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline," the candidate said on his Web site.The Illinois senator, currently second among Democrats in national polls, proposes rewarding towns with federal transportation money for smart development decisions. He also would require states to plan with energy conservation in mind, a policy that is now only encouraged. Obama favors giving employers more tax breaks when they encourage employees to use mass transit, as opposed to current rules in which drivers get twice the benefit.