WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the need for an all-of-the-above strategy to energy production instead of a targeted War on Coal that will spell disaster for the economy:
“Yesterday morning, I made a prediction about a speech the President was expected to give later in the day.
“I said that we could expect him to announce a plan to impose the will of some of his most radical backers on the American middle class.
“I said that he’d be undeterred by Congress’ rejection of his national energy tax, even when Democrats held commanding majorities in both houses.
“I said that he’d announce his intention to push through job-crushing regulations anyway – but this time largely through the back door, over the objections of many working-class Americans, rather than through the regular democratic process. And, lo and behold, that’s essentially what he did.
“I was surprised by one thing, though – and that was his continued effort to play politics with the Keystone Pipeline jobs.
“Remember: we all know that the oil this pipeline would carry is coming out of the ground either way – whether he approves it or not.
“The only question is whether that energy and those jobs will go to America, or whether they will be allowed to travel across the Pacific to governments that harbor terrible environmental records to begin with.
“That’s just one reason why the Keystone Pipeline has enjoyed such broad bipartisan backing here in the Senate. And even among Big Labor, a sector that’s usually supportive of the President. And yet, yesterday, when the President had the opportunity to side with working-class families across the country by approving the pipeline – he took another pass.
“Sometimes you just have to wonder if this Administration, in making decisions like these, truly understands the worries that most Americans have to contend with in the Obama Economy.
“I’ve long warned, for example, that the White House was determined to wage a War on Coal. They denied it, of course, but only just long enough to get through the election.
“So it’s not a coincidence that the President didn’t give his speech before the election—or that he gave it at a university that symbolizes the D.C. elite, rather than somewhere in coal country: at a place like Morehead State University, or the University of Pikeville.
“Now the President’s supporters seem all too happy to admit that there’s a War on Coal. Just yesterday, an advisor to the White House said that ‘a War on Coal is exactly what’s needed.’ He didn’t just admit it. He said it was ‘exactly what’s needed.’
“The quote is right here on the chart behind me.
“Look: Republicans are all for developing the fuels and the energies of the future. We just think that it all should come about as part of an all-of-the-above strategy, which is exactly what the White House said it supported too – before the election. But now, with the election over, the truth comes out. And in truth, the Administration seems to adhere to a dogma that could best be described as ‘none of the above, except a couple things that make our base happy.’
“I’d note that such an approach is basically nonsensical, since it ignores what’s necessary to keep our country’s growing energy needs met as we move toward a future where renewables look set to play a greater role. Because it simply tries to pretend that it will not take years, if not decades, for these other types of energy to come online in a way that will truly meet our energy needs.
“In a phrase, it’s a strategy that subordinates almost everything to politics. That’s why Republicans believe a true all-of-the-above strategy means developing wind and solar – and natural gas, and oil, and coal – and embracing the American jobs that come along with more American energy. And here’s what we believe it absolutely does not mean: picking out a class of vulnerable people and declaring ‘war’ on them.
“Sometimes, people in Washington seem to forget that the decisions made here actually affect the lives of others. And I’m often left to wonder: do they just not care? Of course, coal is an important industry to my state, and I’m going to defend Kentucky workers from out-of-touch Washington attacks. But it’s pretty naïve to think this is just about Kentucky, or West Virginia, or Pennsylvania. As I said yesterday, a ‘War on Coal’ is a war on jobs.
“Coal is important to our entire country – it’s critical to the growth of manufacturing, and it’s important to our national economy.
“One could say that a coal miner in Kentucky relies on coal for her well-being just as a line worker at a manufacturing plant that uses coal relies on it too. And pretty much anyone who lives or works in a building with electricity relies on coal in some way.
“That’s why even some in the President’s party are trying to distance themselves from his approach. As one of my Senate Democrat colleagues put it yesterday: ‘The fact is clear: our own Energy Department reports that our country will get 37 percent of our energy from coal until 2040. Removing coal from our energy mix will have disastrous consequences for our recovering economy.’
“I couldn’t agree more, and it’s time for the White House to stop ‘pivoting’ from job-destroying policies to campaign-style PR pitches for jobs right back to job-destroying policies. It’s time for this Administration to get serious about pursuing a truly workable strategy for this country – for energy, for the economy, and for jobs.”