Presidential hopeful Barack Obama stopped by Mack’s Apples in Londonderry on Tuesday to talk about the environment, delivering a speech about his environmental goals before taking questions.
“I want to … do a little speech making at the front-end,” Obama told the crowd, which his campaign estimated at about 350 people.
As voters ate free apples and listened, the Illinois Democrat outlined a plan to put an absolute cap on the amount of carbon emitted in the United States, to force all polluters to pay as part of a cap-and-trade carbon tax system and to invest $150 billion over the next decade in developing clean, renewable energy.
Obama also went after corn-based ethanol, calling it “neither the perfect nor the permanent answer” to America’s energy problems.
The senator put particular focus on local successes. He praised the work of Keene officials in getting cleaner energy into town vehicles and streetlights. And he praised Stonyfield Farm for reducing its energy consumption by 33 percent.
Throughout the event, Obama talked about making “tough choices,” and a few times disagreed with members of the audience. He said he couldn’t rule out the possibility of another nuclear power plant in the United States and said he would be voting for a new trade agreement with Peru because it includes protections for workers and the environment.
