The Issues
Ethanol
In an interview with the AgriTalk radio show in October 2008, Zichal spoke strongly in favor of support for and increased use of ethanol and other biofuels.(6)
She said that the Obama administration would maintain subsidies for ethanol, and praised the renewable fuel standard (RFS) enacted in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, a controversial measure that requires 36 billion gallons of biofuel to be blended into the fuel stream each year by 2022. She said that Obama would continue to support the RFS, and favors expanding the requirement to 60 billion gallons of biofuel per year. "From his perspective investing in renewable fuels is vital not only to creating jobs and building our rural economies, but also that goal of reducing our dependence on foreign oil," said Zichal.
She also supported maintaining the tariff on imported ethanol, another issue that has become contentious in recent years, in order to maintain a "vibrant renewable fuel policy that creates jobs and economic value here in America," she said.(7) "I think from our perspective the whole point of investing in these homegrown biofuels is so that we don't have to rely on other countries for our sources of energy and we need to continue this path and the more we invest in bringing these prices down and commercializing this technology, we're going to be better off in the long run."
Climate Change
Zichal has been a key player in shaping Kerry's and Obama's climate change policy, serving as one of the chief legislative advisers to both. In the years between the two presidential campaigns, she's seen a shift in the national dialogue, she said in an interview with Grist.(8)
“We barely talked about climate change at all in 2004. It was kind of seen as a little bit of an ‘out there’ concept. Within the last four years, a lot of the great work from the environmental community, a Democratic majority, and being able to hold hearings and look at these issues more directly in Congress has helped,” she said.
"I can't imagine that in 2004 we would have ever talked about cap-and-trade in a speech," Zichal said. "[Now] you can talk about needing to establish a cap-and-trade program to bring greenhouse-gas emissions down, and people will actually understand what you're talking about and not think that you're totally off the reservation."
Zichal also pledged that Obama's administration would take the lead on climate policy internationally, and will push for a national cap-and-trade program. "Rather than taking the backseat [as] we've done under the Bush administration, by taking a leadership role, charging forward, and making an aggressive commitment in this area, we will be able to provide the leadership and re-engage in the international community and show this commitment, and have a better chance of bringing other countries on board with a domestic cap-and-trade program," she said.
Coal
At home in Illinois and on the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was a vocal supporter of so-called "clean coal" technology.(9) The term is generally used to refer to coal-fired power plants that have the technology to capture and sequester carbon emissions, preventing them from entering the atmosphere. Yet the technology is not currently available, and most experts predict that wide-scale carbon sequestration is still a decade away.
Obama has been a proponent of government investment in the research and development of these technologies, and fought for completion of FutureGen, the federal government's first pilot "zero-emissions" plant in Illinois. The Bush administration’s Department of Energy shelved the project after the cost ballooned.. In an interview with Grist in October 2008, Zichal echoed Obama's talking points on "clean coal."
Zichal commented: "From a practical perspective, we have a whole lot of coal-fired power plants in this country and we have growing demand [for energy]. I think Sen. Obama recognizes that we have a lot of work to do to figure out that technology, to understand our capacity for carbon capture and sequestration, and iron out a whole host of questions that come along with that," said Zichal. "The FutureGen project was abandoned by the Bush administration. We can't just continue to duck when it comes to investing in clean coal, which is why [Sen. Obama's] plan calls for five carbon-capture-and-sequestration pilot projects ... We recognize that more research and development needs to be done to commercialize clean-coal technology, and he's dedicated to doing that."
A Bipartisan Energy Plan
On the campaign trail, Obama indicated that he would be willing to endorse(10) a compromise, bipartisan energy plan like last summer's "Gang of 10" bill,(11) which merged tax incentives and funding for renewable fuels with some offshore drilling. Zichal discussed the plan on a Wall Street Journal blog.(12)
"For too long, partisan gridlock and special interest influence has blocked progress on some of the most urgent challenges facing the American people, and that is especially true when it comes to our energy crisis," she wrote. "Today’s announcement from the bipartisan 'Gang of Ten' senators — which includes many of the policies Senator Obama has been fighting for during his time in the Senate and over the course of this campaign — represents a good faith effort at a new bipartisan beginning."
"This compromise repeals tax breaks to oil companies and makes them pay their fair share; makes serious investments in more efficient automobile technology and renewable energy like wind and solar; and provides immediate relief to consumers in some ways," she continued. "Like all compromises, it also includes provisions that Senator Obama hasn’t always supported. And while he remains skeptical that new offshore drilling will bring down gas prices in the short-term or significantly reduce our oil dependence in the long-term, he does welcome the establishment of a process that will allow us to make future offshore drilling decisions based on science and fact."
