Vilsack details energy security strategy

Democratic presidential contender Tom Vilsack offered up a plan Tuesday to wean the nation off of fossil fuels and roll back greenhouse gas emissions to a fraction of current levels.

The former Iowa governor said he would force new power plants to emit no carbon dioxide -- one of the greenhouse gases blamed for rising Earth temperatures -- by 2020. Vilsack would cap U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and create a credit-trading program to meet the cap.

“Energy security is the single most important issue facing America today,” Vilsack said in a speech to the Commonwealth Club. “It affects us every minute of every day. It affects our health, our personal finances, our economy and our quality of life.”

Vilsack said he would also seek to draw developing industrial countries such as India and China into an international effort to “slow, stop and reverse carbon emissions growth.” To do so, he would negotiate trade pacts “with cooperation on climate change in mind.”