Obama and Romney engage in coal wars, as polls show mounting climate fears
President Obama is set to face a fresh wave of attacks over his coal and energy policy in key swings states as the election race enters its final straight, despite the results of a new poll showing mounting concerns over climate change impacts among the US public.
Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have clashed repeatedly over coal policy in recent weeks, with both candidates targeting the key coal-rich swing states of Ohio and Virginia.
Romney has consistently argued the Obama administration is seeking to undermine the coal industry, citing comments the President made back in 2008 suggesting that he would use regulations to restrict the expansion of the industry and “bankrupt” new plants.
“When the president was running for office, he said that if you built a new coal-fired power plant, why, you’d go bankrupt,” Romney said at an event in Virginia earlier this month. “Well, I don’t believe in putting our coal under the ground forever. I believe we should take advantage of it, put American workers back to work so we can use a resource that’s abundant, and cheap and can be burned in a clean way.”
He was handed a further boost last month when Alpha Natural Resources announced that it was closing eight mining sites with the loss of 1,200 jobs, citing increased competition from lower cost natural gas and regulatory restrictions.
Romney has also broadened his attacks to include Obama’s wider environmental policy plans, warning farmers in Iowa that an Obama victory would mean more regulations on run-off, pesticides, and dust. “The regulatory burden under this administration has just gone crazy,” he argued.
Further attacks are expected in the run-up to next month’s election, with the conservative American Energy Alliance telling The Hill’s E2- Wire blog that it is planning to spend over $600,000 on TV ads attacking President Obama’s coal policy record in the next few weeks in Ohio and Virginia.
But the Obama campaign is also mounting a fight-back, accusing Romney of misleading the public during the recent presidential debate given that employment in the coal industry in Ohio has increased 10 per cent in the past four years.
Obama has also started warning that the government’s $3bn clean coal fund, designed to help support the rollout of carbon capture and storage technologies, would be under threat if Romney makes good on his threat to cut clean technology funding.
In addition, Democrats have argued regulations tackling air and water pollution are critical to protect public health, while also accusing Romney of “flip-flopping” on coal policy after he denied a coal plant a planned extension back in 2003 as governor of Massachusetts as it failed to comply with environmental regulations. Romney is said to have declared at the time that he would not “protect jobs that kill people”.
The battle over coal and energy policy comes as a new poll from the Pew Research Center revealed that growing numbers of Americans accept that global warming is happening and believe that mankind is driving rising temperatures.
Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have clashed repeatedly over coal policy in recent weeks, with both candidates targeting the key coal-rich swing states of Ohio and Virginia.
Romney has consistently argued the Obama administration is seeking to undermine the coal industry, citing comments the President made back in 2008 suggesting that he would use regulations to restrict the expansion of the industry and “bankrupt” new plants.
“When the president was running for office, he said that if you built a new coal-fired power plant, why, you’d go bankrupt,” Romney said at an event in Virginia earlier this month. “Well, I don’t believe in putting our coal under the ground forever. I believe we should take advantage of it, put American workers back to work so we can use a resource that’s abundant, and cheap and can be burned in a clean way.”
He was handed a further boost last month when Alpha Natural Resources announced that it was closing eight mining sites with the loss of 1,200 jobs, citing increased competition from lower cost natural gas and regulatory restrictions.
Romney has also broadened his attacks to include Obama’s wider environmental policy plans, warning farmers in Iowa that an Obama victory would mean more regulations on run-off, pesticides, and dust. “The regulatory burden under this administration has just gone crazy,” he argued.
Further attacks are expected in the run-up to next month’s election, with the conservative American Energy Alliance telling The Hill’s E2- Wire blog that it is planning to spend over $600,000 on TV ads attacking President Obama’s coal policy record in the next few weeks in Ohio and Virginia.
But the Obama campaign is also mounting a fight-back, accusing Romney of misleading the public during the recent presidential debate given that employment in the coal industry in Ohio has increased 10 per cent in the past four years.
Obama has also started warning that the government’s $3bn clean coal fund, designed to help support the rollout of carbon capture and storage technologies, would be under threat if Romney makes good on his threat to cut clean technology funding.
In addition, Democrats have argued regulations tackling air and water pollution are critical to protect public health, while also accusing Romney of “flip-flopping” on coal policy after he denied a coal plant a planned extension back in 2003 as governor of Massachusetts as it failed to comply with environmental regulations. Romney is said to have declared at the time that he would not “protect jobs that kill people”.
The battle over coal and energy policy comes as a new poll from the Pew Research Center revealed that growing numbers of Americans accept that global warming is happening and believe that mankind is driving rising temperatures.
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