Romney says to lay out comprehensive energy plan

Reuters ^ | Aug 22, 2012 | Steve Holland

[thackney]

Seeks input from Texas energy executives

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney tapped oil executives for nearly $7 million on Tuesday and told them he will lay out a comprehensive energy proposal this week aimed at increasing U.S. energy production and creating jobs.

On a day of fund-raising in Texas, Romney got whoops of approval from contributors in the West Texas oil town of Midland when he vowed to take advantage of "oil, gas, nuclear and renewables" if elected president on Nov. 6.

Midland is where former President George W. Bush grew up, and Romney's motorcade passed a road sign pointing toward the "George W. Bush Childhood Home." Romney went to the Petroleum Club to address his contributors and was introduced by former Bush Commerce Secretary Don Evans.

If Romney is inaugurated president next January, said Evans, other nations will look at the United States and say, "We can once again trust America."

Romney's energy speech will seek to return his presidential campaign to the more familiar ground of how to boost the sluggish U.S. economy after the race was dominated for more than a week by a Medicare proposal from his vice presidential running mate, congressman Paul Ryan.

The former Massachusetts governor praised Ryan and could not resist a jibe at Vice President Joe Biden, who last week drew the ire of Romney by telling a crowd in former slave state Virginia that the Republican would loosen bank regulations and "put y'all back in chains."

On a day that an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll said Ryan gave no significant overall bump to the Republican ticket, Romney said of his running mate: "I can't wait to watch him debate Joe Biden. Joe Biden has been the gift that keeps on giving."

Biden and Ryan will face off ... in October.

[thackney]

http://www.mittromney.com/issues/energy

Producing more domestic energy would create good jobs and bolster local economies in a wide variety of energy-producing regions that effectively “export” their product to the rest of the country. While countless jobs are engaged in the actual energy-production process, they are a small fraction of the full workforce that benefits. For instance, before the first barrel of oil is pumped out of the ground, entire industries are hard at work creating the equipment and providing the services used in drilling, production, and the long chain of supporting industries that brings energy from inside the earth to the consumer.

The ripple effects into the non-energy sectors of the economy are commensurately important. If instead of sending hundreds of billions of dollars overseas we can send them to our own energy-rich centers, the nation as a whole will experience the economic benefits that we currently see other countries enjoying at our expense.

[Paine in the Neck]

"...oil, gas, nuclear and renewables..."

I would rather have heard "oil, gas, nuclear and economically viable renewables". No more subsidies for wind and solar - make it work economically or drop it.

[MestaMachine]

I don’t see coal in there either.

[thackney]

No more subsidies for wind and solar

No subsidies targeting any method, even the ones that favor my industry. All on a level playing field.

[thackney]

I’ll at least give him credit for putting this in his planning:

Amend Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide from its purview

[Paine in the Neck]

I don’t see coal in there either.

Yes, coal should be included.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

A comprehensive energy plan may be the most important step towards creating jobs and getting the Nations economy back on the right track. If Romney can thwart the environmental whackos and reinvent the EPA and open up the Nations energy resources, we may see prosperity return to even better than what it was in the late Reagan years.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

“Comprehensive” means “All of the above” including”Coal”.

[Paine in the Neck]

No subsidies targeting any method, even the ones that favor my industry. All on a level playing field.

I agree. I'm ok with developmental funding for new technology but once you want to hook up customers you better be able to stand on your own without taxpayer support.

[Graewoulf]

I did not see downsizing the EPA, DOE, and other millstone Federal Anti-Jobs Agencies on Romney’s to-do list.

[dps.inspect]

Just vowing to become more energy independent will likely cause OPEC to increase production and lower oil prices... there is no end to the benefits that will be gained while working toward energy independence... I personally believe there will be an economic boon once a commitment is made and the work begins... Gawd-Damn-Obama

[thackney]

From the article:

Romney has said he would ease regulations to allow more offshore oil drilling and increased production of natural gas, and he would support coal mining as well, with the goal of making the United States less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

[RWGinger]

Exactly
the ripple affect on good paying jobs here in USA is immense
but what Dems do is to say that drilling and using gas here won’t bring down the price of oil or gas.
Thye try to deflect the reality of how may jobs drilling here creates.

nice link

[JLAGRAYFOX]

Side Bar Issue for Mitt Romney: Get Todd Akin to withdraw from the Missouri USA Senate race, right now!!! There are a million different ways to accomplish this, Mr. Romney, without you being directly involved.

Just do it, and....get this guy off the table!!! No need to outline the reasons. They are as clear and evident as can be!!! There is a piece, I believe, that morphs the “Jack Woltz” horse’s head in the “God Father” flick, that is quite compelling. I am not advocating that extreme, but....Akin needs some common sense and reality in his thick headed skull.

He, Akin, has brought about his own failure, just as surely as Barack Hussein Obama & Joe Biden have brought about their’s!!!

[thackney]

He has at least started with some more limits on them such as:

Amend Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide from its purview

[MestaMachine]

Thank you. That’s MUCH better. I am hyper today.

[thackney]

Get Todd Akin to withdraw from the Missouri USA Senate race, right now!!!

So the democrat can be unopposed on the ballot? That is your strategy? The Missouri filing deadline was yesterday.

[cripplecreek]

economically viable renewables

That would be hydro. After all, there's a reason the liberals are in a rush to tear out all of America's dams.

These days you don't need a huge dam to produce a lot of electricity. New generator technology makes the small dams far more viable. 10 or 15 feet of head is enough to produce something in the range of 1 half to 1 megawatt. Unlike wind, they produce every day all day. I can show you a report on two small dams in Ann Arbor Michigan that says those dams where the flow actually exceeds capacity around 28% of the time. When the wind exceeds the capacity of a windmill the generator stops. When the water exceeds the capacity of a dam, the excess is dumped over a spillway and the generators keep spinning.

There are a LOT of dams in the midwest. There are hundreds in Michigan alone. Granted, most wouldn't be viable but enough would be to help make us the world's leading oil and gas exporter.



Now imagine the number of dams east of the Mississippi and the one thing I actually like about the smart grid is the ability to feed electricity into it from multiple locations.

[cripplecreek]

Amend Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide from its purview

That's exactly what H.R. 750:( Defending America’s Affordable Energy and Jobs Act ) would do. Granted its not going to get anywhere till we take the senate but we should be advancing it now to get a head start.

H.R.750 - Defending America's Affordable Energy and Jobs Act

To preempt regulation of, action relating to, or consideration of greenhouse gases under Federal and common law on enactment of a Federal policy to mitigate climate change.