Dean wants to make renewable energy a security issue

June 26, 2003

By STEVEN K. PAULSON The Associated Press

DENVER — The United States should build more wind-powered electric generators and make renewable energy a national security issue, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said Thursday.

Speaking to about 200 supporters at a luncheon, the former Vermont governor said Denmark gets 20 percent of its electric power from wind generators, and suggested the United States should aim for 10 percent over the next two decades.

“The president has put us far behind Europeans on renewable energy,” Dean said to a round of applause.

State Democratic Party officials declined to say how much was raised at the fund-raiser for Dean’s presidential campaign. Tickets to the luncheon ranged from $100 to $1,000.

Republicans already have a huge early advantage, with the Republican National Committee outraising the Democratic National Committee by more than 3-to-1 in the first three months of the year.

President Bush’s re-election campaign is halfway toward raising $20 million in a two-week push, with a goal of $200 million or more.

Dean criticized Bush’s tax cuts and said most people would give up those cuts if they could have the booming economy they had when Democrat Bill Clinton was president.

Dean said Bush is soft on homeland security, leaving most cargo bound for the United States uninspected and forcing states and local communities to pick up the costs.

He also poked fun at the president, mocking his “Clear Skies” plan for not reducing pollution and his “ Healthy Forest ” plan which Dean said allows trees to be cut down.

“This president has no idea what long-term vision means,” Dean said.

He said Bush cost the United States a lot of respect among other nations by leading the war against Iraq .

Ed Gillespie, senior adviser to the Republican National Committee, criticized Dean for opposing Bush and the war in Iraq .

“Howard Dean positions his opposition to the war as an act of political courage and says he was right all along,” Gillespie said.

He said the policy is destined to fail because it opposes action against Iraq , and other nations that are alleged to have weapons of mass destruction, until the weapons are used.

On the Net:

Howard Dean: http://www.deanforamerica.com

President Bush: http://www.bushforpresident.com