Companies all over America inject poisonous chemicals, along with a lot of fresh drinking water into the ground to retrieve oil and natural gas. If elected, I will work to stop the poisoning of the earth and our water! Leave oil in the ground.
The Green Party calls for a complete reorientation of our national energy priorities, beginning with the elimination of tax subsidies for petroleum and coal energy, divestment by any organization that holds stock in fossil-fuel companies, enactment of carbon fees and dividends reflecting the true cost of fossil fuel extraction, and phasing out of off-shore drilling, mountaintop removal mining, hydrofracking, and new pipeline construction.
Ending our environmentally destructive dependence on fossil fuels will require an investment from all of us. In the short term, it may cost more as we develop safer and cleaner energy technologies (nuclear is not safe). Retrofitting all American homes and other buildings for energy efficiency should be a priority if we are going to end our addiction to oil. With improvements in technology, an investment today should begin to show returns in as little as 5 years.
A small percentage of our military budget could instead, help Americans to dramatically reduce their consumption of fossil fuels.
Barry Hermanson