Using domestic resources to rid the nation of its reliance on foreign oil is good policy. The only problem is that instead of Saudi carbon pollution swarming above the U.S., it’s our own emissions that are ruining the atmosphere. What Republicans need to realize is that developing domestic oil and natural gas is not the only way to rid us of our reliance on foreign oil. President Barack Obama’s call for clean energy tax credits as well as the development of renewable energy is actually a step in the right direction. Among his clear failures, energy policy has been an area of promise.
Republicans pride themselves on the U.S.’s vast fossil fuel energy sources that have been extracted for years. According to Governor Mitt Romney, “developing them has been a pathway to prosperity for the nation in the past and offers similar promise for the future.” He’s exactly right; the development of domestic energy resources has led to many jobs and pumped life into the economy for decades. It also has led to what could very possibly be the destruction of our environment.
Romney’s approach to energy policy is so painful to hear because of the seemingly ignorant policies. Romney proposes to amend the Clean Air Act so that it no longer includes regulation on carbon dioxide. Signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, it greatly enhanced the country’s energy policy. Romney’s plan to scrap the most important part of the law will take away restrictions on vehicle emissions, one of the largest contributors to global warming. He needs to realize that running for president should not always mean taking the hard lined route in order to win.
President Obama has led commendable efforts to get the nation’s energy policy back on track. “By 2035, 80 percent of America’s energy will come from clean energy sources,” Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union Address. Should this goal be achieved, the U.S. will almost completely kick the Saudi oil imports out of the picture. Obama also approved the Cape Wind Project in April of 2010 which is the first major offshore wind farm in the country’s history. According to Joseph Kennedy III, who is candidate for Massachusetts Fourth Congressional District, Cape Wind will double the amount of renewable energy in Massachusetts and create thousands of good jobs. Joseph Kennedy’s uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy was opposed to the Cape Wind Project because he would look out the window of his Cape Cod mansion and instead of seeing clear, bay water, he would see a colossal wind farm.
One of Obama’s faulty talking points is his push in domestic oil production. Under Obama, US oil production is at an all time high, and the United States is less reliant on foreign oil than anytime in the past 16 years. This means that we are pumping more American CO2 into the atmosphere than we have every before. What happened to Obama’s commitment to cleaner energy sources? This is just a weak attempt to appeal to moderates. Obama lacks the gusto to stick to his true feelings of renewable and clean energy.
The claim from the far right that man-made warming doesn’t exist and that we are simply experiencing a warming period is absurd and old-fashioned. There are more people on Earth now than there ever have been, and a “trend” like this is going to be extremely hard to reverse.
Governor Romney should embrace a more diverse energy policy as a harbinger, not an aberration, for the U.S. and understand that the country would benefit today and for future generations.
