Thursday, June 12, 2003

Kerry to Unveil Energy Independence Policy
Friday, June 13, 2003 - The Washington Post

Today in Iowa, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) will outline his plan to free the United States from its dependence on Middle East oil, calling it a matter of national security to find alternative energy sources to power the country's economy.

"No foreign government can embargo clean, domestic, renewable sources of energy, and no terrorist can seize control of them," Kerry says in the prepared text of his speech that was made available yesterday.

Kerry promised "boldness to match the challenges" needed to convert the country from its reliance on foreign oil and accused President Bush of embracing an energy policy "of big oil, by big oil and for big oil."

The Democratic presidential candidate said he would set a goal of energy independence within a decade by helping to subsidize the development of more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, raising fuel-efficiency standards and investing royalties from drilling rights into research and development of alternative energy sources. Among his goals, he said, would be for the country to produce 20 percent of its electricity from alternative energy sources by 2020.

"George Bush persists in pursuing a course that can only be described as energy dependence, an approach, that despite all his boasts about a stronger America, will actually risk our hopes, make us weaker and make both our economy and our country more vulnerable to blackmail by hostile powers."

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