Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) outlined his energy policy at a speech at the University of New Hampshire today, vowing to "systematically" eliminate energy subsidies if elected president.

Huntsman, who is competing for the Republican presidential nomination, also said he would immediately begin the "safe and rapid expansion" of offshore drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

"We have a challenge: We have to rebuild our power capacity in this country," Huntsman said during a question-and-answer session broadcast on his campaign website. "In order to get that done, a president must make the energy agenda a top-tier priority. You can't be thinking about Afghanistan. You can't be thinking about Iraq. You can't be thinking about some other corner of the world."

In his half-hour speech, Huntsman promoted the use of traditional and renewable energy resources, placing emphasis on the expansion of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- the practice of injecting chemical-laced fluids into shale rock to release natural gas and oil -- and offering his support for the Keystone XL pipeline.

"Every barrel from a friend is one less from a foe," Huntsman said.

Huntsman said he would also back decreased regulations on all forms of energy production, criticizing in particular oversight of the coal industry.

"American is drowning in energy resources, so we must remove the regulatory constraints on the production of domestic energy," Huntsman said.

But Huntsman also emphasized a need to "break up oil's monopoly" as the primary fuel for vehicles in the United States.

Huntsman vowed that if elected, he would move to eliminate all energy subsidies -- for both renewable and traditional fuels -- and said the funds should instead be used for "basic research" at universities, rather than in industry.

"We will stop using limited federal resources to prop up individual companies," Huntsman said.