Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
08/24/12
ROMNEY ENERGY PLAN FOCUSES ON OIL AND GAS, OMITS ‘CLEAN COAL’
An energy policy blueprint released this week by the Romney campaign pushes firmly for expanded domestic oil and gas development but does not mention advanced coal technologies like carbon capture and storage or climate change. In his most notable rollout of energy policy priorities since running for president, Romney’s 21-page energy policy white paper centers squarely on achieving energy independence—with the help of neighbors Canada and Mexico—by 2020 while limiting permitting and regulatory requirements to help speed development. In the document, the presumptive GOP nominee rolls out a plan that dramatically increases domestic energy production by fast-tracking leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf, opening up most federal land to energy production and approving the Keystone XL pipeline. “While President Obama has described his own energy policy as a ‘hodgepodge,’ sent billions of taxpayer dollars to green energy projects run by political cronies, rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline as not in ‘the national interest’ and sought repeatedly to stall development of America’s domestic resources, Romney’s path forward would establish America as an energy superpower in the 21st century,” the blueprint says.
In an Aug. 23 speech in Hobbs, N.M., Romney said that opening up lands to coal, oil and gas development could lead to the creation of more than 3 million new jobs and add $500 billion to the country’s gross domestic product. “3 million jobs come back to this country by taking advantage of something we have right underneath our feet. That’s oil, and gas and coal,” Romney told supporters. “We’re going to make it happen. We’re going to create those jobs.”
Romney Promises to Modernize Environmental Regs
The blueprint outlines a plan for implementing “measured” reforms to environmental statutes and regulations that would not hurt industry or bar the use of coal for electricity generation. Romney said his administration would streamline the environmental review process to require more coordination between federal agencies and set clearer statutes of limitations. “Government oversight is of course crucial to any safe and responsible development of natural resources. But statutes and regulations that were designed to protect public health and the environment have instead been seized on by environmentalists as tools to stop development altogether,” the blueprint says. “President Obama’s Administration, similarly opposed to the development of the nation’s resources, has embraced this approach—going so far as to implement regulations designed to “bankrupt” the coal industry and actually being held in contempt of federal court for illegally imposing a moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Overregulation, permitting delays, endless reviews, and senseless litigation interfere with all forms of energy production, from oil and gas drilling to nuclear and coal power generation to the construction of wind farms and solar plants.”
Romney called for government to encourage more private sector development in new energy technologies and removing subsidies for “uncompetitive” technologies to survive in the market. “Instead of defining success as providing enough subsidies for an uncompetitive technology to survive in the market, success should be defined as eliminating any barriers that might prevent the best technologies from succeeding on their own,” the blueprint says. “Instead of distorting the playing field, the government should be ensuring that it remains level.” The blueprint did not mention CCS or other ‘clean coal’ technologies. It also steers clear of the topic of climate change or global warming. The white paper also encourages the pursuit of additional cooperation efforts with Mexico and Canada to encourage more energy production and share best practices and technological information.
Obama Campaign Criticizes Plan
Obama’s reelection campaign was quick to criticize Romney’s energy blueprint as non-substantive. In a conference call with reporters this week, Obama’s Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter called Romney’s 2020 energy independence pledge “long on empty rhetoric” and “very short on any new policy ideas.” Former Clinton Administration Energy Secretary Frederico Pena characterized the plan as a handout to the oil industry. “Only two days after a fundraiser hosted by the CEO of major oil companies, Romney is expected to defend billions in oil subsidies while opposing efforts to use oil more efficiently and develop homegrown alternative energy. We will never reach energy independence by turning our backs on homegrown renewable energy and better auto mileage,” he said.
OBAMA CRITICIZES ROMNEY ON COAL VIEWS
President Barack Obama’s reelection team is touting the President’s support of ‘clean coal’ technologies and criticizing presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s stance on coal in a radio ad that began airing in Ohio earlier this month. The ad has received criticism, though, from both the right and environmental groups. Running in the coal-heavy battleground state of Ohio, the minute-long ad highlights Obama’s investments in ‘clean coal’ technologies as President, saying that he has made $5 billion in investments, “one of America’s largest investments ever in clean coal technology.” The clip also says that since Obama has become President coal production in the state has increased by 7 percent, jobs in the sector are up 10 percent and shale gas production is at an all-time high.
The ad also takes aim at Romney, taking a clip from a 2003 press conference that the then- Governor of Massachusetts held in front of the aging Salem Harbor Power Plant, a more than 60-year-old plant owned by the utility PG&E at the time. “I will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people, and that plant kills people,” Romney said. Obama criticized Romney as being a flip-flopper on the issue. “And Mitt Romney? He’s attacking the president’s record on coal. … So when it comes to coal, ask yourself: who’s been honest and who’s playing politics?” the ad says.
Obama Criticized For Ad
Obama’s campaign has received criticism from many sides of the political spectrum for the ad. The Romney campaign refuted the comments and criticized the President’s coal and environmental policies and their effects on coal-reliant regions like the Ohio River Valley. “President Obama’s policies have devastated the coal industry and we are seeing the results firsthand. Just last week, the President’s burdensome regulations resulted in the loss of even more coal jobs in Ohio and have jeopardized thousands of jobs throughout the coal industry,” Romney spokesperson Allie Brandenburger told GHG Monitor. “As president, Mitt Romney will promote an all-of-the-above energy policy that harnesses America’s energy resources and helps create jobs in Ohio and around the nation.”
Meanwhile, progressive and some environmental groups criticized Obama for pandering to coal interests. The progress group CREDO Action started a campaign for people to sign a petition for the Obama Administration to drop the ad, which they described as “misleading and cynical” for the campaign to promote the image that Obama is more pro-coal than Romney. “As the leader we elected on his lofty promises to stop the rise of the oceans and heal the planet, President Obama should be laying out a better way forward. Not perpetuating the myth that burning coal has a viable place on a livable planet, or criticizing ‘Etch-a-Sketch’ Romney for a fleeting and long-gone true statement about dirty coal,” they said on their website. Others defended Romney’s 2003 remarks, saying that they were true and that plant is one of the most polluting in the country. They also highlighted that Vice President Joe Biden made similar comments in 2008 about the health risks of coal-fired generation.
Obama Defends Coal Support
The Obama campaign’s ad is notable in that it marks one of the first times this year Obama has attempted to defend his record on coal. Support of from voters in coal states is especially important for the Obama Administration as it looks to court votes in battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia that all have large coal industries. Obama suffered an embarrassing showing in the West Virginia Democratic primary earlier this summer against a jailed felon, who garnered nearly 43 percent of votes against the President.
Earlier this summer, Obama sparked criticism from Republicans after his reelection campaign quietly added ‘clean coal’ to a list of preferred energy policies on the President’s website following criticism of its omission from House Republicans. A tab on ‘clean coal’ was later added to a list of oil, natural gas, biofuels, wind, solar and nuclear as a component of Obama’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. Opponents to the President’s energy policies said the initial omission was indicative of the Administration’s “war on coal.” They said the move was akin to pandering as a way to win votes in coal states amid a key election season.
WHITE HOUSE HITS RYAN’S ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD
President Obama’s reelection campaign was quick to highlight Rep. Paul Ryan’s voting record on environmental issues within days of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney selecting Ryan as his running mate. “Here’s something that should make the idea of a Romney administration even scarier to any friend of the environment: Paul Ryan in the number two seat. His record on the environment isn’t just extreme—and boy is it extreme—it’s downright dangerous,” the campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters this week.
The campaign underscored the Wisconsin Republican’s voting record in the House as one that is anti-environment and protective of polluting industries, highlighting previous votes to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases, as well as votes against tax credit extensions for renewables and adaptation efforts to help limit the potential effects of climate change. “This is a guy who has actually accused climate scientists of conspiring to ‘intentionally mislead the public on the issue of climate change,’ and implied that snow challenges the validity of global warming,” the e-mail said. “The bottom line? A Romney-Ryan administration would be one of the most extreme on the environment in recent memory.”
