The Democrats' Green Weekend: Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Dodd

There is obviously a lot of energy/environmental news today. I don't have time to write up every candidate right now like I did with McCain, mostly because I am working on building out a new feature on the candidates and the issues. More on that later this week.

For now, here is a brief overview of the weekends news, when it comes to the candidates and the environment.

• Obama is getting some favorable coverage from the Chicago Trib today, with a article headlined "Obama strong on environment". Barack was in Iowa on Sunday, promoting his new energy policy proposal. This was the first in a series of policy talks where Obama fleshes out his stances on the issue.
• Iowa was the hot spot this weekend. Clinton and Edwards were also there in different locations.
  

  Clinton touted her plans to create a strategic energy fund, invest oil companies' "windfall profits" in renewable energy efforts and lead the nation to get 20 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.

  Edward's has had his own detailed energy plan for a while now, which he was taling up.

  He said he would cap carbon dioxide emissions, lowering the cap each year, and put a "maximum investment" into sources of alternative energy.

  Edwards has proposed the creation of what he calls a New Energy Fund by auctioning off $10 billion in greenhouse pollution permits and repealing subsidies for big oil companies.

  "We want to receive 25 percent of our electricity from renewable sources of energy by the year 2025 and we want to decentralize the way electricity is provided in America," Edwards said. "We want to reduce greenhouse emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. It's an aggressive plan, but it is achievable."

  I haven't seen Edward's rally numbers, but Clinton had about 1,000 people at her event. Obama drew 5,000.

• Last night, Edwards drew 1,800 to a Democratic club dinner in Detroit where he promoted an investment into Detroit car companies.
  

  "We should put billions of dollars into creation of the new technology and $1 billion should go right to the car companies," he said. "I don't want to see the cars of the future built anywhere else."

• Chris Dodd was promoting his energy plan over the weekend, in a dare to be different mode, he was in New Hampshire. Why none of these candidates chose to be in California, where all of the revolutionary environmental policies come from is beyond me. But I digress...

  Dodd wants to put a tax on polluters to fund R & D for renewable energy. It would raise about $50 billion a year.

  Dodd is the first to propose such a tax and calls for carbon reduction of 80 percent by 2050.

  Dodd’s plan also would set a requirement that all automobiles must get 50 miles per gallon by 2017.

• Speaking of Dodd, he was on Stephanopoulus this weekend discussing his energy program. The transcript is here.