Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, calling his plan to cut the use of foreign oil the “most aggressive” of all the candidates, called Thursday for a 50 percent cut in foreign oil imports by the year 2020.

“This is going to be a tough sell with the political system,” he said.

Richardson, who was in Eldridge at the community center Thursday, proposed requiring a greater use of renewable fuels for electricity, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by

90 percent by 2050 and boosting automobile fuel standards to

50 miles per gallon by 2020.

Richardson was making his second trip to the Quad-Cities in recent weeks.

Polls have shown him behind John Edwards and U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., in Iowa, but he is trending upward.

Energy is a key issue among Democratic candidates, and all of them have spoken to the need for more renewable fuel use.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has proposed a carbon tax to pay for energy initiatives, an aggressive move that has won praise from environmentalists.

Richardson aides say they don’t believe a tax is necessary. He said he would sell carbon permits and cut tax subsidies.

There is considerable debate about proposals such as Richardson’s.

Already, there is a proposal in Congress to boost fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon, which Richardson labeled “pathetic.”

On other issues, Richardson renewed his call for a minimum wage of $40,000 for teachers, a withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq and abandoning the No Child Left Behind education law.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.