In a speech at the University of New Hampshire on Tuesday that is sure to rile energy hawks, the former Utah governor called for the breaking up of oil’s “monopoly as a transportation fuel,” Politico reports.
“We cannot simply drill our way to energy security; we also need to use the power of the marketplace,” Huntsman said. He demanded the creation of a “truly level playing field for competing fuels.”
Huntsman then called for the FTC and Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the nation’s fuel distribution system.
He wasn’t done yet, promising to “systematically begin to eliminate every subsidy for energy companies, whether it be oil, natural gas, wind or solar. Under my presidency, the United States will get out of the subsidy business.”
The money saved by eliminating the subsidies would instead be directed toward energy research.
Huntsman explained how he intends to rely on the states for energy innovation, citing California’s geothermal resources, hydroelectric power in Washington and Oregon, and wind projects in Iowa.
“States are laboratories of innovation, yet federal rules handcuff them with red tape, he said.
Huntsman then seemed to soften the blow to the energy industry, if only just a bit, insisting that he supports hydraulic fracturing as a method of natural gas extraction.
He concluded that if necessary, he would use his “executive authority to act unilaterally” in order to implement his plans.
Since taking on Big Oil means even less outside funding for his flagging campaign, Huntsman appears to be consciously tilting at windmills. They’re still a viable form of green energy, right?
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