Given Rubio’s past positions on energy policy, it’s unlikely that his national energy platform will support clean-energy policies or address the serious threat posed by climate change. Instead it’s more likely that his “plan” will rely heavily on dirty, non-renewable fossil fuels that only contribute to oncoming climate disaster.
Rubio’s abysmal climate record reveals that he:
Unlike Marco Rubio and the Republican presidential field, Hillary Clinton has a bold renewable energy plan to create clean-energy jobs and modernize America’s energy infrastructure, while also combatting the harmful effects of climate change.
For a more in-depth comparison of Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton’s records on energy policy, see Correct The Record’s full analysis below:
| Marco Rubio denied that human activity was causing “dramatic changes to our climate.” “Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a GOP star and possible 2016 presidential contender, does not believe human activity is causing climate change, he said Sunday. ‘I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it,’ Rubio said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ ‘I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy,’ he added.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/11/14]
Marco Rubio said that he doesn’t believe human activities could affect climate change. “Rubio said he doesn’t agree that actions humans take today could affect how the climate is changing. ‘Our climate is always changing. […] And what they have chosen to do is take a handful of decades of research and say that this is now evidence of a longer-term trend that’s directly and almost solely attributable to manmade activities.’” [Los Angeles Times, 5/11/14] |
Hillary Clinton called climate change the “most consequential, urgent, sweeping collection of challenges we face as a nation and world.” “Climate change is the ‘most consequential, urgent, sweeping collection of challenges we face as a nation and world,’ Clinton said at the National Clean Energy Summit 7.0 in Nevada. ‘The data is unforgiving no matter what the deniers try to assert.’” [The Hill, 9/4/14]
Hillary Clinton: “Climate change is a national security problem, not just an environmental problem.” “On climate change: ‘Climate change is a national security problem, not just an environmental problem.’” [Politico, 4/9/14] |
| Marco Rubio voted against the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, legislation that would eliminate tax subsidies for the five largest oil companies and redirect those savings into deficit reduction. “Dubbed the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, the bill would eliminate tax subsidies for just the five largest oil companies and direct those savings to pay down the deficit. Total deficit reduction: $21 billion over 10 years.” [CNN, 5/12/11; Senate roll call vote 72, 5/17/11; S. 940, 5/10/11]
Marco Rubio voted against the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act, legislation that would end tax breaks totaling $24 billion for the five largest oil companies. “Voting 51-47, the Senate on March 29 failed to reach 60 votes for ending GOP blockage of a bill (S 2204) to end several tax breaks worth $24 billion over ten years for the five largest oil companies: BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell. More than half of the savings would be allocated to deficit reduction, with the remaining $11 billion used for tax credits to promote natural gas and propane as vehicle fuels, make U.S. homes more energy-efficient and spur the production of renewable and alternative fuels to reduce U.S. consumption of fossil fuels. A yes vote was to advance the bill.” [Evansville Courier and Press, 4/1/12; Senate roll call vote 63, 3/29/12; S. 2204, 3/19/12] |
Hillary Clinton: “Generous subsidies for fossil fuels are still too easy to come by.” “Now, today I don’t need to tell you that tax incentives for alternative energy investments are unpredictable at best, while generous subsidies for fossil fuels are still too easy to come by. In fact, the world spends more than $500 billion subsidizing fossil fuels every year, bloating budgets, and creating incentives against innovation and progress.” [Hillary Clinton remarks at the National Clean Energy Summit, 9/4/14]
Hillary Clinton proposed legislation to strip billions of federal dollars in subsidies from oil companies. “And so what I am proposing is the Strategic Energy Fund that would be funded with 50 billion dollars. Ten billion dollars would come from the oil companies pay royalties on drilling on public land. They have escaped from paying their fair share. Public lands are just that and they need to be paying more. 20 billion would come from removing the tax subsidies that have been increased under the Bush administration, remove the tax subsidies from the oil companies, they don’t need it they’ve been making more money than anyone has ever made in the history of the world and that 20 billion will go into these strategic energy fund.” [Senator Clinton speech on the Green Building Fund, 7/24/07; S.2993, 5/23/06; S.701, 2/28/07] |
| Marco Rubio voted against tax incentives for biodiesel. “Legislation that would have extended the US biodiesel tax incentive through the end of 2012 was voted down by the US Senate on Tuesday. ‘This is another missed opportunity for Congress to do something to boost the economy,’ said Anne Steckel, the National Biodiesel Board’s vice president of federal affairs. ‘We’re talking about thousands of jobs across the country that are affected by this, and the very real possibility that biodiesel plants will go out of business.’” [ICIS News, 3/13/12; Senate roll call vote 39, 3/13/12; S. Amdt. 1812, 3/13/12]
Marco Rubio voted against legislation to fund the promotion of natural gas as fuel for cars and trucks. “The Senate also defeated 51-47 a proposal to provide billions of dollars in tax incentives to promote natural gas as a fuel for cars and trucks through supports for refueling infrastructure, the manufacture of natural gas-powered vehicles and consumer purchases. The plan, which oil and gas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has advocated for years to promote natural gas as a cleaner-burning domestic fuel source, has attracted criticism from fiscally conservative interest groups for being what they consider an expensive government intervention in the energy markets.” [CQ Quarterly Today, 3/13/12; Senate roll call vote 41, 3/13/12; S. Amdt. 1782, 3/13/12]
Marco Rubio voted against legislation that would have extended the wind power tax credit. “Thursday’s vote was on legislation from Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. It called for shutting off $25 billion in tax credits for major oil companies over the next decade. Included in the bill was a list of credit extensions for alternative energy industries, including the wind power tax credit, which was first created in 1992.” [Pueblo Chieftain, 3/30/12; Senate roll call vote 63, 3/29/12; S. 2204, 3/19/12] |
Hillary Clinton: “We’ve got to do more to subsidize renewable energy.” During a speech at the University of Miami, Sec. Clinton said, “And third, we’ve got to do more to subsidize renewable energy and to create the incentives for smart people like all of you to come up with ways of doing that. We subsidized the oil and gas industry for decades. Maybe that was the right thing to do 50 years ago. Now, we need to subsidize clean energy, renewable sources of energy, and be part of the international effort to do that.” [Hillary Clinton remarks at the University of Miami, 2/26/14]
Hillary Clinton repeatedly introduced Senate legislation to prioritize investment in alternative energy. “I have introduced legislation to create a strategic energy fund, to commit our Nation wholly to a new energy future, to invest in alternatives and efficiency, to create jobs, to strengthen our economy, and to free our hands fully to protect our Nation in the world. I don’t want to see one more year go by where we are not doing what it takes to prevent us from being blackmailed and extorted by oil regimes that have us literally over a barrel. The strategic energy fund will invest in renewable energy, such as wind and solar, transform America’s vehicles by expanding consumer tax credits, and making sure we have more hybrids and other advanced clean diesel automobiles and trucks.” [Senator Clinton remarks, 6/28/06; S.2993, 5/23/06; S.701, 2/28/07]
Hillary Clinton supported the extension of the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit. “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today welcomed the Senate’s extension of the federal wind production tax credit. The extension, which Senator Clinton supported, was approved by the Senate last Thursday and will provide a boost to Flat Rock’s wind power project on Tug Hill in Lewis County. The extension has already been approved by the House of Representatives and now awaits the President’s signature. Senator Clinton also said today that she would continue to work to provide a longer extension of the credit. […] The Wind Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) was approved as part of a major tax package (H.R. 1308).” [Senator Clinton press release, 9/28/04] |
| Marco Rubio supported phasing out the Renewable Fuel Standard. “How the likely White House contenders navigate the issue will signal how much Republican politics are now driven by the party’s conservative base, which balks at government interference in the marketplace. Two GOP contenders who want to phase out the renewable-fuel standard, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, are skipping the event.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/5/15] | Hillary Clinton supported continuing and improving the Renewable Fuel Standard. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a successful history of partnering with farmers, rural small businesses, and rural co-ops in deploying renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. These programs should be expanded. The United States should also continue supporting — and improving — the Renewable Fuel Standard and other federal incentives that have been a success for Iowa and much of rural America. The Renewable Fuel Standard can continue to be a powerful tool to spur the development of advanced biofuels and expand the overall contribution that renewable fuels make to our national fuel supply.” [Hillary Clinton op-ed, The Gazette, 5/28/15] |
| Marco Rubio supported the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. “Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison will continue to chair the Nevada presidential campaign of Republican Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, despite the fact that Rubio has said he supports the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, which Hutchison opposes.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 5/11/15] | Hillary Clinton said that storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain was “off the table.” Jon Ralston: “You’re not keeping it completely off the table? You’ll keep it in mind if new information comes to light?” Hillary Clinton: “Well, it’s off the table now based on what I know. I think science is always changing. But based on what I know, where it is, the geology of where it is, it’s off the table.” [KNPB’s Ralston Live, 6/18/15] |
| Marco Rubio said the Keystone XL pipeline was a key part of his economic agenda. “Earlier this year, Rubio called the Keystone XL pipeline a key part of his economic agenda. ‘The interstate highway system of the last century helped foster an explosion of economic opportunity,’ he said. ‘What we need now is an interstate energy pipeline because it could have a similar impact in this century.’” [Washington Post, 4/25/14] | Hillary Clinton opposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. “I am opposed to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. We shouldn’t be building a pipeline dedicated to moving North America’s dirtiest fuel through our communities — we should be focused on what it will take to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. For too long, the Keystone XL pipeline has been a distraction from the real challenges facing our energy sector — and the job-creating investments that we should be making to meet them. Building a clean, secure, and affordable North American energy future is bigger than Keystone XL or any other single project. That’s what I will focus on as president.” [Hillary Clinton, Medium, 9/23/15] |
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Boosting alternative energy power.
Hillary Clinton repeatedly voted for legislation that extended the production tax credit for electricity produced from renewable energy sources and she proposed making tax credits for wind and solar production permanent. Hillary also teamed up with Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to create new job-training programs for renewable energy workers.
Fighting for cleaner energy.
Hillary Clinton repeatedly cosponsored the Clean Power Act to get power plants to cut back on air pollution that contributes to both global warming and health problems. The 2007 legislation would have increased renewable energy use by launching the goal of generating 20% of our electricity from renewables by the year 2020 – the so-called Renewable Portfolio Standard. Hillary also pledged to support a goal of generating 25% of our electric power from renewable energy sources by 2025.
Using excess oil profits to develop new energy technologies.
Hillary Clinton proposed getting big oil companies to reinvest some of their excess profits to help reduce American dependence on oil. These investments – combined with the savings gained by repealing tax breaks for oil companies – could have directed $50 billion into a new Strategic Energy Fund geared towards researching and developing smarter energy technologies like more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, and wind and solar power.
Modernizing buildings to save energy and money.
Hillary Clinton worked across the aisle to get the federal government to expand the use of geothermal energy in powering its buildings. She introduced legislation to make federal buildings more energy efficient and she proposed making energy efficiency “a core mission” of the General Services Administration. Hillary also introduced legislation to help states upgrade school buildings to make them more energy efficient.
Getting cleaner vehicles on the road.
Hillary Clinton cosponsored the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act to allow more investment in technologies to reduce pollution from diesel-powered trucks and other modes of transportation. She procured funding for the creation of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Hillary also passed legislation to reduce air pollution from construction equipment used on highway projects, and she even teamed up with one of the Senate’s climate change deniers to fund cleaner school bus emissions across the nation.
Bringing America’s power grid into the 21st century.
Hillary Clinton cosponsored the Electric Reliability Act to give the federal government more authority to make America’s power grid more reliable and efficient. She advocated moving more aggressively towards smart grid technology and called for a nationwide net metering standard so that “families and companies that install these new technologies can sell power back to the grid for a fair price all over the country.”
Prioritizing cleaner energy worldwide.
Under Hillary Clinton, the State Department joined the Department of Energy and other U.S. government agencies in a regional partnership with countries in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean to promote clean energy development and smarter growth policies. Through this program, the U.S. has collaborated with other countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promoted cleaner energy through the Peace Corps, and connected public and private-sector officials across the hemisphere with renewable energy companies in America.
Getting smarter energy projects off the ground in Africa.
Hillary Clinton helped launch a new partnership – the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative – to jump-start private sector investment in cleaner energy projects and sustainable development across Africa. Funding provided through the initiative sparked wind, solar and hydro-powered projects in several African nations bringing electricity to thousands of homes.
Finding common goals with China to address access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy.
Hillary Clinton spearheaded U.S. relations with China to enhance cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment. Under bilateral agreements, the U.S. and China established frameworks for increasing access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy as well as connecting businesses and government to support energy and environmental goals.
]]>Made Climate Change an American Foreign Policy Priority
Sec. Clinton changed the way the U.S. approached climate change.
According to the New York Times,“Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wrapped up her first diplomatic mission to Asia yesterday with climate change experts praising her for putting global warming at the center of U.S. foreign policy… Kenneth Lieberthal, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-author of a new blueprint on how to bring China and the United States into cooperation on climate change, said he thinks Clinton sent a powerful signal that was ‘fundamentally different’ from the one sent by the Bush administration over the past eight years. He noted that Clinton chose [Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd] Stern as her travel companion — and not a Treasury Department official, a nonproliferation expert or an envoy on any number of other top-tier foreign policy issues. ‘Climate change is one of these existential threats that the U.S. and other countries face, and we do not have the luxury of procrastinating anymore. I think that’s the message that Hillary Clinton brought to China,’ Lieberthal said. ‘She’s saying, “We have changed the U.S. approach to this in a huge way. We want you to know that, and we want you to know the door is wide open for serious communication,’” he said.” [New York Times, 2/23/09]
Sec. Clinton appointed a Special Envoy for Climate Change to “serve as a principal advisor on international climate policy and strategy.”
According to Sec. Clinton’s remarks announcing the appointment of Todd Stern as Special Envoy for Climate Change, “The Special Envoy will serve as a principal advisor on international climate policy and strategy. He will be the Administration’s chief climate negotiator. He will be leading our efforts with United Nations negotiations and processes involving a smaller set of countries and bilateral sessions. Because the main cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuel and because the solution rests with our ability to shift the global economy from a high to a low carbon energy base, the Envoy will be a lead participant in the development of climate and clean energy policy. He will participate in all energy-related policy discussions that, across our government, can have an impact on carbon emissions, and will be looking for opportunities to forge working alliances.” [Remarks Announcing the Appointment of Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, state.gov, 1/26/09]
Sec. Clinton established the Bureau of Energy Resources because “how the world uses energy is a key factor” to addressing the threat of climate change.
According to Sec. Clinton’s remarks on delivering on the promise of economic statecraft, “Next, on energy. We know energy can be a source of healthy competition, with countries racing to develop new technologies and renewables. But it can also be a source of conflict, fueling corruption and instability. And how the world uses energy is a key factor as to whether we will finally address the threat of climate change. So we have created at the State Department a new Bureau of Energy Resources, and made this issue a priority in our diplomacy.” [Remarks on Delivering on the Promise of Economic Statecraft, state.gov, 11/17/12]
Sec. Clinton viewed U.S. leadership on climate change as both “a responsibility we should accept and an opportunity we should seize.”
In her book Hard Choices,Secretary Clinton wrote, “In our meeting in Copenhagen, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia told me that the world was looking to the United States to lead the way on climate change. I believe this is both a responsibility we should accept and an opportunity we should seize. After all, we’re still the largest economy and the second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide. The more serious the effects of climate change, the more important it will be for us to lead.” [Hard Choices, pg. 504, 2014]
Advanced International Partnerships on Climate Change
Sec. Clinton expanded U.S. efforts to assist developing countries hit hardest by climate change.
In her remarks on the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, Sec. Clinton said, “A year ago, President Obama proposed this partnership as a forum for sharing ideas and devising solutions. And through consultation with many of the countries here today, we identified five critical areas of engagement: energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fossil fuels, energy poverty, and infrastructure. And today, I propose we add two new areas to help advance the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and to be prepared for the next conference in Cancun. Those are: sustainable forestry and land use, and adaptation to assist developing countries that have been and are being hardest hit by climate change.” [Remarks on the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, state.gov, 4/15/10]
Sec. Clinton launched the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, which has 37 countries working to reduce methane emissions.
In her book Hard Choices,Secretary Clinton wrote, “I held an event at the State Department with the Environmental Ministers from Bangladesh, Canada, Mexico, and Sweden, the Ambassador from Ghana, and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, to launch the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. In 2014, there are thirty-seven country partners and forty-four nonstate partners, and the Coalition is making important strides toward reducing methane emissions from oil and gas production and black carbon from diesel fumes and other sources.” [Hard Choices, pg. 501, 2014]
Sec. Clinton launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to negate the “serious health risks” of dirty cookstoves and to reduce their contribution to climate change.
According to Sec. Clinton’s remarks on the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, “The World Health Organization considers smoke from dirty stoves to be one of the five most serious health risks that face people in poor, developing countries. Nearly 2 million people die from its effects each year, more than twice the number from malaria. And because the smoke contains greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane, as well as black carbon, it contributes to climate change. […] I know that maybe this sounds hard to believe, but by upgrading these stoves, millions of lives could be saved and improved. This could be as transformative as bed nets or even vaccines. So today, I am very pleased to announce the creation of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.” [Remarks on the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, state.gov, 9/21/10]
Sec. Clinton helped drive an unprecedented deal between major economies, developed and developing, to curb carbon emissions.
According to Foreign Affairs, “Obama and Clinton barged into a meeting at the 2009 global climate change talks in Copenhagen and forced the Chinese president to agree to a nonbinding pact under which rich and poor countries alike pledged to curb their carbon emissions.” In her book Hard Choices,Secretary Clinton wrote, “Sitting [in Copenhagen] next to President Obama in the small leaders’ meeting he and I had just forced our way into, I hoped that we might finally be getting somewhere. I looked across the table at Wen Jiabao, then at the leaders of India, Brazil, and South Africa. […] In the end, after lots of cajoling, debating, and compromising, the leaders in that room fashioned a deal that, while far from perfect, saved the summit from failure and put us on the road to future progress. For the first time all major economies, developed and developing alike, agreed to make national commitments to curb carbon emissions through 2020 and report transparently on their mitigation efforts. The world began moving away from the division between developed and developing countries that had defined the Kyoto agreement.” [Foreign Affairs, May/June 2013; Hard Choices, pg. 499, 2014]
Sec. Clinton signed an agreement with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim to “strengthen bilateral cooperation” on climate change efforts.
According to a State Department fact sheet, “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim today signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Regarding Climate Change’ that will strengthen bilateral cooperation between the United States and Brazil as we work to meet the global climate and clean energy challenge. This Memorandum of Understanding launches a new ‘Climate Change Policy Dialogue’ to discuss key issues, including: The implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and ways to build on the Copenhagen Accord as quickly as possible; Strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; Joint efforts on research, development, deployment and dissemination of clean energy technologies; Adaptation; Cooperation on climate change scientific research; and Capacity-building in sectors related to climate change.” [Announcement of Increased Cooperation on Climate Change, state.gov, 3/3/10]
Urged Global Cooperation in the Fight against Climate Change
Sec. Clinton called for a cooperative international effort to implement climate change action plans “in individual countries, in regions and globally.”
According to Sec. Clinton’s remarks at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, “All of us participating today must cooperate in developing meaningful proposals to move the process forward. New policy and new technologies are needed to resolve this crisis, and they won’t materialize by themselves. They will happen because we will set forth an action plan in individual countries, in regions, and globally. It took a lot of work by a lot of people to create the problem of climate change over the last centuries. And it will take our very best efforts to counter it.” [Remarks at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, state.gov, 4/27/09]
Sec. Clinton: “No solution” to the climate problem “is feasible without all major emitting nations joining together and playing an important part.”
According to Sec. Clinton’s remarks announcing the appointment of Todd Stern as Special Envoy for Climate Change, “As the President has made clear, he is committed to enacting a far-reaching new energy and climate plan. As we take steps at home, we will also vigorously pursue negotiations, those sponsored by the United Nations and those at the sub-global, regional, and bilateral level that can lead to binding international climate agreements. No solution is feasible without all major emitting nations joining together and playing an important part.” [Remarks Announcing the Appointment of Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, state.gov, 1/26/09]
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