Posted on 08/19/2003 4:46:59 PM PDT by yoe
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Democrat hopefuls for the White House wasted little time after the lights came back on to attack President Bush's energy policies but had little to say on America's electricity network before last week's blackout.
"The unfortunate events on the East Coast, parts of the Midwest, and in Canada yesterday are further evidence that the Bush administration is inexorably tied to Persian Gulf oil and old energy, and is incapable of devising a comprehensive, forward looking energy strategy," Dick Gephardt (D-MO) said in a statement released on Friday following the major electricity blackout that crossed several Northeast states and parts of southern Canada. But before the blackout, Gephardt was silent about America's electricity needs.
In January, Gephardt gave a speech titled "American Energy Independence for the 21st Century" to the Democrat Leadership Council outlining his energy policy. That speech did not contain any references to America's failing electricity grids or transmission lines which are suspected to be the cause of last week's major blackout.
The closest message Gephardt has made on electricity, aside from encouraging conservation, was his call for ending electricity price manipulation.
Apollo 21, Gephardt's energy plan, will outlaw electricity price manipulation and task the federal government with a more aggressive mandate of mounting early investigations of power companies for price gouging. Gephardt believes that by taking these two steps, America "will help insure that the 2000-2001 California energy crisis is not repeated anywhere in the U.S."
However, since the blackout, Gephardt's campaign has added the following plank to his energy platform: "An upgrade to our nation's antiquated electric power grid will be made by introducing new digital technologies that will allow power to be distributed more efficiently, avoid a catastrophic accident or sabotage and keep pace with our advancing digital society."
Since announcing his intention of running for the White House, Gephardt has missed 100% of the votes cast this year relating to energy.
Others in the Democrat field have also attacked President Bush for his energy positions after the blackout without offering ideas for electricity distribution improvements prior to last week's multi-state crisis.
"If it weren't for this administration's obsession with giveaways to their friends in the oil business, Congress likely would have passed an energy bill last year," Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said on Friday.
Kerry missed 16 separate votes on America's energy needs this year -- some of which included efforts to improve Americas' electrical grid network.
Others have also offered energy plans, such as front-runner Howard Dean (D-VT), but none of the plans presented prior to the blackouts mentions America's electricity grid network.
Just a thought, has anyone noticed the resemblance of the Pelosi and HRC eyes? Big to bulging and slightly insane.........................
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