President Obama’s coal problem
by Gary Gross
When it comes to energy policy, President Obama can’t talk about coal-fired power plants. According to Salena Zito’s latest article, that’s leading to re-election difficulties, especially in Ohio and Pennsylvania:
- Today, coal still generates more than half of Pennsylvania’s electrical power, according to Edward Yankovich, United Mine Workers District II vice president. “In Ohio, 80 percent,” he added.
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- Yet it is the one energy resource about which President Obama dares not speak. In fact, Obama has not mentioned it since last year — and then, only in passing at a news conference.
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- Last Thursday, in what the White House touted as his “big American-made energy” speech, the president never mentioned coal.
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- “That’s — that is just disappointing,” said T.J. Rooney, former chairman of Pennsylvania Democrats, who oversaw several very successful election cycles for his party.
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- Yankovich refused to criticize Obama but suggested driving to one of Somerset County’s electricity-generating windmills to see how many cars are in its parking lot. “None. None,” he said. “But drive over to Homer City in Indiana County, and you will see 200 to 300 at any time of the day.”
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- The coal-fired Homer City power plant is pretty imposing, home to the nation’s second-tallest smokestack. Its owner is in the midst of proposing a $725 million pollution-abatement project, to avoid it being one of more than 100 coal-fired plants that power generators recently decided to shut down, including six in Pennsylvania, ahead of new federal clean-air rules that take effect in 2015.
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- U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said we need to find a balance of wind, sun and clean coal.
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- “It’s not just jobs, it is costs, too,” he said, referring to monthly electric bills. “That last thing we need in this slow-moving economy is rising energy bills, not just at the pump but in the home as well.”
In 2008, President Obama claimed an impressive victory in Pennsylvania while winning Ohio. This year, alot of polls show President Obama trailing in both states. If President Obama loses both states, he’ll lose by 50-75 electoral votes. Minimum.
If I were the GOP nominee’s consultant, I’d tell him to relentlessly run ads featuring President Obama’s San Francisco speech in which he said his cap and trade bill would cause electricity prices to “necessarily skyrocket” the last 2 weeks of the campaign in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Sen. Casey is in trouble because of coal, too. He’s been a wimp on standing up to President Obama on coal. By comparison, Joe Manchin, D-WVA, stood up to President Obama on Cap and Trade and coal mining.
Wimps like Bob Casey shouldn’t get rewarded for standing up for the people that he’s supposed to represent. If you aren’t a forceful leader, then you aren’t representing your state. |
