Iowa Ag Summit  ...Next >
March 7, 2015--Former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
photo 1 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
photo 2 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
photo 3 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
photo 4 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
Responses on RFS and wind:
Rastetter: You've been an unabashed supporter of the RFS.  Why?

Huckabee:  Well because America needs to do everything it can to do three things to be free.  It needs to be able to feed itself, fuel itself, fight for itself.  The country that outsources any of those three things--the food on the table, the fuel in our tanks and the weapons of our self defense, the degree to which we outsource that is the degree to which we have outsourced our freedom, not just those things.

Food safety and food security is as much a national security issue as it is a food issue, agricultural issue as it is an economic issue.  And here's why.  God help us when we start importing food to America's tables.  America ought to be the exporter of food.  Now how does that relate to the RFS?  Here's how.

In that area of energy, we need to make sure that America is not an importer of energy.  We ought to be the exporter.  If we were exporting energy we would turn the tables on Russia, turn the tables on Iran.  We wouldn't be making this ridiculously bad deal with the Iranians right now, we wouldn't be even at the table with them.  They would be begging for some relief to their economy instead of now being in the catbird seat of running the world stage and basically putting the world at risk.

RFS is just one bit of the components of the bigger picture of energy independence and energy security, and making sure that ultimately the decisions are made not just frankly for what's best for Iowa; that's not the rationale.  You can't make a decison and say, it's good for Iowa, gee they're the caucus state--we better suck up to them.  We better make decisions that are good for every consumer at the end level so that his or her energy prices are better, they're more sustainable, and that we have the broadest possible energy portfolio so that America is never at a point where we're going to be once again held hostage, whether it's with the Saudis, the Iranians, the Russians or anybody else in the marketplace.

Rastetter: Where does wind fit into that?

Huckabee: Well I think if we could ever harness the wind that comes out of Congress we could supply the energy needs of the world with plenty left over so that would be the first place I'd start [laughter, applause].  But wind is an important part of the long term future.  In any energy development there's got to be a necessary research and development component so that we make sure that it's efficient.  And, wind is a part of that, but I think so is coal, so is nuclear, fossil fuel--the portfolio of American energy ought to be as broad and as sustainable as possible. 

But now one thing let me just point out about oil and gas.  We're in a very different place than we were even eight years ago with oil and gas because of the new technology that exists.  So that changes the marketplace constantly.  But ultimately it's making the marketplace better for the American consumer, that's a healthy thing.

And let me just mention, I think there are three kinds of people.  There are globalists, there are corporatists, and there are nationalists.  Globalists want to make America basically secondary or no better than the rest of the countries of the world.  The corporatists care only about what's good for the corporation, particularly the multinational corporations. And then there are the nationalists, and I unapologetically put myself there.  I care what's good about America.  I want to make sure that what we do is not necessarily--I don't care if it helps the Chinese; I don't really care if it makes the European Union stronger.  I care if it makes America stronger as a nation and American families able to reach the next rung of the economic ladder and a lot of our decisions that we're making today are not doing that.

Rastetter: So in order to facilitate wind, we've had a wind tax credit in the country.  That expired in December and the industry goes through the ups and downs when Congress has short-term programs and had the wind tax credit program; doesn't now.  So do you support the wind tax credit program?

Huckabee: I think it needs to be debated.  I'm not sure that it's something that needs to be discontinued but I wouldn't just say automatically continue it because the worst thing we do with any government program, government subsidy, government anything is that we give it eternal life.  I think the only living beings on Earth that should have eternal life are human beings and dogs.  Nobody else should have eternal life.  And government programs--that's because I'm a dog person--no other government program should be given this almost unquenchable life that often exists not because it's good for everybody, but because it's good for those who have been able to push their agenda to the members of Congress.

photo 5 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
photo 6 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
photo 7 of former gov. mike huckabee at the iowa ag summit
Reporters swarmed around Huckabee as he did a media availability following his appearance. Huckabee, making his ninth Iowa visit of this presidential cycle, later did a roundtable at the Pizza Ranch in Altoona.
< Previous  |  Next >