Consider Bill Richardson

If you have not given Bill Richardson your attention yet, now is the time to give him a look. Jay Leno introduced him on the Tonight Show recently,

He spent 14 years in Congress, was the US Ambassador to the UN, served as the US Secretary of Energy, has negotiated with the harshest dictators around the world, is the current Governor of New Mexico and a four–time Nobel Peace Prize nominee... please welcome Democratic candidate for President, Gov. Bill Richardson!

WOW! By most metrics, he is the most qualified of all the presidential candidates. Take a look at this popular video.

Energy
Energy is one of the most important issues facing our country, and it will only get more dire of the next 4-8 years. While I am enamored with Obama, Richardson is not only more qualified, his energy policies are better.

No one in the presidential race can compete with Richardson's experience as the former Secretary of Energy. In New Mexico, he has lead the state to become "the Clean Energy State" and recently signed a law "requiring state utilities to quadruple their use of renewable energy." While Bush refuses to sign the Kyoto Treaty, N. Mexico is "on track to exceed Kyoto in the coming years."

While Richardson's record is strong, I am even more inspired by his vision for our energy future. He says, "Our goal should be bold—to reduce oil imports by 40% AND replace one quarter of liquid fuels with bio-fuels by 2025, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050."

He calls for "a national renewable portfolio standard of 30% by 2020 that will rise to 50% by 2040."

By comparison, Obama calls for "all transportation fuels sold in the U.S. [to] contain 5 percent less carbon by 2015 and 10 percent less carbon by 2020. Obama is aware of our dangerous dependence on oil, but his goals are far from "bold."

The Governor knows the energy companies and understand that they must be part of the solution. He proposes establishing "a North American Energy Council—both to assure that we are efficiently developing and transporting energy in the North American market and to leverage our combined market power."

When addressing Oil and Gas executives, he states

Government’s role – indeed its obligation-- is to provide a clear vision, strategic investment in technology development, incentives to move forward – and most importantly, legal and regulatory certainty.

You are responsible for managing incredible risk and high-dollar portfolios – you have every right to know the federal “rules of the road” as you make key investments in our energy future.

Government investment in new technologies can serve as a sparkplug for energy “invention” but it is the role of the investment community to transform those inventions to marketplace “innovations” -- and the role of the business community to move innovations from the business plan stage to true technology diffusion.

Only when government and industry work together as partners can we successfully link together all these pieces of the energy innovation chain -- pushing the nation beyond the tired divisions of “good jobs OR the environment” and moving to “even better jobs AND a clean environment.

Other bold energy comments by Richardson:

1. Our ability to drain the swamps of terrorism depends in part on our political will to change how we produce, distribute and consume energy.
2. A significant portion of the $450 billion petrodollars we export each year is most certainly funneled to fund our Jihadist enemies
3. We should not lose sight of the following: Forty-five percent of the world’s proved gas reserves are in just two countries – Russia and Iran.

Diplomacy
As humbly as possible Richardson explains his diplomacy experience. "I was often asked [by President Clinton] to negotiate directly with tough characters like Fidel Castro, North Korean generals, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, and Saddam Hussein. Those face-to-face talks often meant the difference between the wrongful imprisonment of American servicemen and citizens–and freedom." Oh, add to this his experience as US Ambassador to the UN. He knows how to talk with friends and enemies.

No other candidate has anywhere close to Richardson's experience. "In recognition of his efforts around the world, Bill has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Each nomination has focused on his international peace mediation, hostage rescue and his commitment to justice." His recent negotiations with North Korea have rekindled the stalled nuclear non-proliferation talks with that regime.

Governor Richardson may not have the hype that Obama and Clinton do, but he is a proven energy expert, diplomat, and executive. Take the time to consider Bill Richardson for President. www.RichardsonForPresident.com