Editor's note: This is the 12th in a series of stories examining the top issues of concern for The Eagle-Tribune's 154 voters participating in the presidential campaign coverage project.
New Hampshire voters and presidential candidates agree the United States is too dependent on foreign oil, but how to wean the country off oil and other fossil fuels is where they differ.
The Eagle-Tribune polled dozens of voters in 16 Southern New Hampshire towns, and 50 percent of them listed alternate energy among their top 10 concerns when choosing the next president.
As the cost of gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil rises, more attention is being paid to the amount of fossil fuel the United States and its citizens consume.
"It's very apparent that we need to reduce our reliance on oil," said Lisa Vivinetto, 45, of Windham. "The fluctuations in the prices have a negative effect on our economy. I also feel we need to minimize our reliance on the Middle East, which is where most of the oil comes from."
Vivinetto said she hopes the next president will offer incentives to people and businesses to use alternative energy sources and develop new products.
"Our dependence on oil is costing us at the pumps and during the winter when we heat our homes with heating oil," said college student Connor O'Brien, 19, of Windham. "It's also strategic in that we're supporting questionable regimes in the Middle East because they're oil rich nations."
Most presidential contenders agree that pursuing alternative energy is important, but they differ on how to accomplish that goal.
Democrat Mike Gravel, for example, supports a carbon tax that would raise the price of gasoline so the marketplace would be forced to develop alternative sources of energy.
Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee want to seek energy independence for the United States through a combination of conservation and pursuing alternative sources of energy.
Democrat Joe Biden supports $50 billion in new incentives for research of alternative energy, while fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton would require 25 percent of the nation's electricity come from renewable sources by 2020.
Some voters stress the importance of doing research as a key to weaning the country off fossil fuels.
"We need to put a significant amount of our resources toward research in order to determine what's going to get us through the next 100 years," said Richard Blake, 62, of Londonderry. "There is too much dependence on oil. That's one of the reasons we're in the situation we are in now. Too many of our eggs are in one basket because of our limited energy sources, which is mostly oil and coal and gas."
Blake said the country needs to look beyond fossil fuels
"solar, wind, hydrothermal, and things we're not even aware of right now."
Massage therapist Bruce Cameron, 53, of Derry agrees the country needs to get away from fossil fuels.
"I'm hoping the next president will try to promote efforts to find and develop alternate forms of energy," Cameron said. "Tax credits should be given to companies doing research on nonfossil fuel sources of energy, and, possibly, to consumers who use these new methods, too."
O'Brien, the college student, would like the next president to focus on alternative energy through regulations and nontax incentives.
"The president and the Congress need to work together to mandate higher fuel efficiency standards," he said. "We're still going to be using some oil, but we have to be realistic."
Regina Dellea, a 17-year-old Salem High School senior, said she believes finding alternative energy sources would speed up the process of getting American troops out of Iraq.
"We wouldn't have to rely on the Middle East anymore," she said.
