07.22.08
Noriga Releases New Video & Energy Plan
Here’s the video:
Here’s the press release and a DMN article on his energy plan.
Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega provided details Tuesday of his proposal to cope with the nation’s energy problems, saying America needs to use renewable energy and find new sources of oil in part through offshore drilling.
“Texas leads the U.S. in both fossil fuel reserves and in renewable energy potential and deserves an energy policy that takes both factors into account,” said Noriega’s energy policy document, obtained by The Associated Press before its official release.
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Noriega said the most notable part of his plan calls for Texas household electricity to come totally from renewable sources by 2019, or 10 years after he would take office if elected.
He said increasing the use of renewable sources — including wind, solar, hydrogen and biomass — would create new jobs and strengthen the economy. He said he supports requiring 20 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from renewables by 2020.
Noriega is for drilling but with conditions:
Noriega said in his document “we cannot drill ourselves out of our current problems” but he said oil drilling must be part of the solution.
“Too often, Washington politicians treat energy policy as a false choice between finding new sources of fossil fuels or building our renewable capacity,” Noriega said in a statement. “My plan rejects that either/or mentality as I believe all energy options must be on the table.”
He’s advocating maximizing output from current oil fields by requiring oil companies to drill or give up the leases they have on 68 million acres of undeveloped federal land.
Noriega said offshore drilling should be allowed as long as that oil is required to be used in the United States and not exported overseas. He said his proposal encourages states to decide their own drilling plans and that he supports lifting the congressional ban on offshore exploration.
His opponent on the other hand is sticking to the hair of the dog, and continues to previously debunked talking points:
Cornyn said he backs lifting drilling restrictions on offshore drilling, developing oil shale in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, as well as opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. Doing so could “produce as many as 3 million additional barrels of oil a day right here at home.”
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“But in the near term, the best way for us to bring down the price of gasoline is to bring down the price of oil by producing more here in America,” he said.
Drilling is not a near term solution, that’s was debunked a while ago. In so many ways and at all levels the election in November is about more of the same or a new direction. Energy is one of, if not the most, serious issue of them all.