ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
10/5/12

CANDIATES EMPHASIZE SUPPORT FOR EXPANDED ENERGY PRODUCTION DURING FIRST DEBATE

Both presidential candidates aimed to emphasize their support for expanding domestic energy production through sources like natural gas, oil and renewables during the first presidential debate held Oct. 3. While President Obama and Mitt Romney spent the lion’s share of the debate sparring over health care, federal spending and the role of government, both candidates appeared to elevate the issue of domestic energy production to the status of key economic issue that could help alleviate some of the country’s fiscal woes rather than frame the topic primarily as a national security or environmental issue.

While neither candidate referred to the “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that both campaigns have been championing in recent months, Romney and Obama both emphasized that their respective policies would help boost energy production during the debate. “On energy, Governor Romney and I both agree that we’ve got to boost American energy production,” Obama said early in the debate. The President said that oil and natural gas production have expanded under his watch and underscored his Administration’s emphasis on the deployment of renewables. “I also believe that we’ve got to look at the energy source of the future, like wind and solar and biofuels, and make those investments,” Obama said. Meanwhile, Romney highlighted the Obama Administration’s loan guarantee to the now-defunct Solyndra. He criticized Obama for spending $90 billion on breaks to clean energy projects, but also underscored his own support of green energy. “I had a friend who said, you don’t just pick the winners and losers; you pick the losers,” Romney told Obama. “This is not the kind of policy you want to have if you want to get America energy-secure.”

During his remarks, Romney focused on the pledge he made in his energy blueprint to make North America energy independent by the end of the decade, a policy he said would create four million jobs. His blueprint said it would achieve this mainly by expanding the production of fossil fuels, a philosophy he mirrored during the debate. “I like coal,” Romney said. “I’m going to make sure we continue to burn clean coal. People in the coal industry feel like it’s getting crushed by [Obama’s] policies.” The Republican nominee vowed to expand offshore oil production and to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which he did not mention by name. He also repeated his vow to open up more public land to energy production.

Climate Change Absent from Debate

Despite the multiple references to energy production, neither candidate brought up the topic of climate change or greenhouse gas emissions. The debate’s moderator, Jim Lehrer of PBS’ NewsHour, notably did not ask a question about candidates’ views on climate change, as pushed by environmental groups such as the League of Conservation Voters and Environmental Defense Fund via a petition in the weeks before the debate.

WEST VIRGINIA COAL GROUP BACKS MANCHIN

A key West Virginia coal group said this week that it is endorsing Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D) bid for reelection next month due to his support of the industry. The West Virginia Coal Association said it is supporting the incumbent in his reelection bid against Republican challenger and former Chairman of the state’s Republican Party John Raese. “Senator Joe Manchin recognizes the important role West Virginia’s coal industry plays in keeping the state’s economy strong, and he has proven time and time again that he is willing to fight for not only the industry but West Virginia miners and their families,” WVCA President Bill Raney said in a statement. Since arriving in the Senate in 2010, Manchin has been a vocal advocate for the coal industry and carbon capture and storage. He has also vehemently opposed many key Environmental Protection Agency regulations promulgated by the Obama Administration that would force the industry to clean up emissions. This spring, Manchin criticized Clean Energy Standard legislation introduced in the Senate by his Democratic colleagues because he said it would phase out coal.

Coal is expected to play a large role in next month’s elections in West Virginia. Many in the state have expressed anger over several Obama Administration environmental policies that would force the coal industry to quickly clean up and modernize, and have warned of the economic challenges that could face the state if those policies are allowed to move forward. While Obama won the state’s Democratic primary earlier this summer, he lost 43 percent of that vote to a challenger who is a jailed felon, an outcome viewed by many as a reaction to his energy and environmental policies.