Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!
Final results: Summary results | Town resultsThe BasicsThe New Hampshire primary is a mainstay in American electoral politics. Every four years, voters gather to help determine the Republican and/or Democratic nominee for President. While the state only has 12 electoral votes in 2012 (normally it’s 24, but the Republican National Committee penalized the state party for moving up the event date), the primary’s position as one of the earliest contests gives the state out-sized influence over the nomination process.Only the Iowa caucuses come before New Hampshire’s primary. Traditionally, New Hampshire’s broad-based primary contest has been seen as a counter-weight to Iowa’s more drawn-out caucus process, which tends to draw a smaller core of party faithful. In the case of the 2012 Republican race, New Hampshire’s electorate is seen to represent the more libertarian-leaning, fiscally conservative wing of the party, while Iowa voters are seen as representing the socially conservative wing of the GOP base.N.H. Primary summary provided by StateImpact - NH reporter, Amanda Loder

Huntsman on Energy: More Domestic Fossil Fuels and Everything Else

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman says energy security would be a driving force behind his administration.  Huntsman laid out a three-part strategy that is unlikely to  find favor with either farmers in Iowa or environmentalists nationwide.

Jon Huntsman says getting the right energy policy would put Americans to work and end what he called a heroin-like addiction to foreign oil.  The former Utah governor said the 300 billion dollars each year that flow to what he labeled unfriendly regimes, would do more good if they were spent in shops at home, saved in American banks , or invested in jobs. 

Huntsman said the country is drowning in energy resources and should tap it.  He called for more extraction of natural gas through a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and across Alaska.

Huntsman counted oil from Canada as oil from a friend and endorsed a controversial project to pump it all the way from Alberta to Houston, Texas.

“My administration will stand firmly behind the Keystone pipeline, creating 100,000 new jobs and reducing our dependence on overseas imports.”

All of those elements trouble environmentalists.  Fracking is associated with groundwater contamination.  A 2,000 mile pipeline raises concerns about spills.  Huntsman said there must be a balancing act between using resource and maintaining the integrity of our oceans and forests.  He did not address the question of carbon emissions and climate change implicit in this strategy.

Huntsman had another idea that would seem likely to ruffle feathers among corn growers.  He promised a level playing field for all forms of energy.

“I will systematically begin to elimate every subsidy for energy companies, whether it be oil, natural gas, wind or solar.“

When campaign staff was asked later if that list would included ethanol, the response was, “all subsidies.”

Huntsman has basically written off the Iowa caucuses.  Coming out against government support for ethanol from corn would fit with that political strategy.

Huntsman also promised to target the distribution networks for gasoline and diesel fuel with anti-trust action.  The goal, he said, is to give all forms of transportation fuel an equal shot at reaching consumers.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.