Richardson presses oil independence plan

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Democrat Bill Richardson told oil and gas investors Wednesday how he'd wean the United States off foreign sources of their product if elected president in 2008.

Calling dependence on foreign oil America's "Achilles heel," the New Mexico governor outlined a broad plan for promoting energy independence in a keynote address at an oil and gas conference in New York sponsored by investment banking giant Bear Stearns.

In prepared remarks, Richardson set a goal of reducing oil imports by 40 percent and replacing liquid fuels with biofuels by 2025, and called for a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050.

Richardson, who served as energy secretary under President Bill Clinton, warned that U.S. foreign policy was too dependent on maintaining access to oil resources, and said oil consumption was hastening the effects of global warming.

"Our ability to drain the swamps of terrorism depends in part on our political will to change how we produce, distribute and consume energy," Richardson said. "In the West, it's not just liberal college kids who ask what we are doing about global warming — it's the conservative farmers and ranchers whose way of living is at risk."

Richardson, who trails front-runners Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) in the presidential field, said he would promote tax breaks for the construction of energy efficient buildings, offer tax credits for hybrid cars and public transportation, and create a system of tradable energy credits to encourage private investment in alternative energy technologies.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a plan on Wednesday aimed at expanding the children's health care program to cover all children who are currently uninsured.

The New York senator joined with Rep. John Dingell (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., to outline the plan, part of Democrats' five-year, $50 billion attempt to boost the number of poor children provided health care by the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

"A lot of parents are in such a bind because they cannot afford to get the health care that their children need and deserve," Clinton said.

Clinton, who helped mold an unsuccessful plan to overhaul the health care insurance system when she was first lady, said the children's proposal "is the kind of congressional action that is a step toward universal coverage for everyone."

The measure will likely be part of Clinton's agenda as she pursues the 2008 nomination. Democratic rivals Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards of North Carolina have both favored providing universal health care coverage by 2012.

Clinton's proposal would expand the children's health program, which provides health insurance to six million children in families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford to buy private insurance. An estimated 9 million children are uninsured.

The plan seeks to give all uninsured children access to coverage by offering states financial incentives to cover children with family incomes of up to four times the poverty level.

Dingell noted that children are typically cheaper to insure than older people.

"It costs less than $3.50 a day — that's less than the cost of a Starbucks Frappuccino," Dingell said.

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Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070314/ap_on_el_pr/on_the2008_trail [link]