With the 2012 elections a little over two months away, the presidential candidates are putting their campaigns into over-drive.
Republican hopeful Mitt Romney was no exception this week, as he unveiled his vision for his American energy policy during a campaign stop in Hobbs, N.M. This speech and policy paper released on Wednesday is one of the first concrete details that Romney has provided for what he plans to do for our country, if he wins in November.
Romney’s plan is based on the premise of North American Energy Independence by 2020.
“I have a vision for an America that is an energy superpower, rapidly increasing our own production and partnering with our allies Canada and Mexico to achieve energy independence on this continent,” said Romney in his speech. “We’re not going to have to buy oil from the Middle East, Venezuela, or any other place we don’t want to.”
To achieve this, he plans on giving states broader control over the development of energy, and Romney even calls for increased ties with our bordering nations, Canada and Mexico.
Mitt Romney hopes that we can construct cross-border pipelines, and believes that areas off the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas (which were previous protected), would also be opened up for oil and gas exploration.
He claims that his energy plan will create in excess of 3 million jobs and generate one trillion dollars in revenue for the state and federal governments.
However, despite the fact that Romney has finally given voters an idea about some of his policies, some people do not believe that this is a good thing for him. The Sierra Club actually believes that Mitt Romney’s energy plan is a huge step backwards for the country.
This is in light of an analysis done by The League of Conservative Voters that found that the 21-page plan mentioned oil 154 times, while only mentioning wind energy 10 times.
Five out of the 10 times that he actually bothered to discuss wind energy were all negative things that could be said.
When asked about Mitt Romney’s plan, the Sierra Club said, “Mitt Romney has devised an energy insecurity plan that would make us even more dependent upon oil, coal, and gas companies while ignoring climate disruption, economic growth, and the health and well-being of the American people.”
They believe that Romney’s plan will continue to keep our country in the 19th century, and believe that no one should have to choose between a good job and a clean bill of health.
In addition, the League of Conservative Voters National Press Security Jeff Gohringer stated, “We continue to be surprised by Romney’s outright hostility to clean technologies like wind and solar. Under his plan, clean energy’s loss would be Big Oil’s gain.”
It is clear that both the LCV and the Sierra Club both disagree with Romney’s energy plan and his overall view of what our nation should become.
In reality however, it all comes down to what the citizens of this country want. Data shows that nine in 10 Americans believe that our current energy situation is serious, and five in 10 believe that we will face an energy crisis within the next five years.
If voters pay attention to the policies that are being released by our presidential candidates, then they can actually make an informed decision when November finally comes.
If they do not, American citizens may be stuck with an energy policy that will force them into the very energy crisis that they are so afraid of.
