Fact Checking the Left on Energy
Conn Carroll /
Campaign for America’s Future’s Bill Scher has a post up titled: “For Conservatives, “All of the Above” Means “No Clean Energy.” In it he writes:
Conservatives know that after eight years of keeping America dependent on oil, they can’t easily promote another Big Oil giveaway. So the message mantra around coastal drilling is “All of the Above.”
“All of the Above” is supposed to mean that we need to do “everything” in response to the gas price shock, and more drilling is just one thing among many, including support for coal, nuclear and renewable energy.
Funny thing is: that “All of the Above” list seems to sputter out for conservatives when it gets to renewable energy.
Now, as a 501c(3), The Heritage Foundation cannot support any specific legislation, but we can at least point out when people are factually wrong about what legislation includes. For the record, here is what the House GOP “All of the Above” energy bill includes:
To promote renewable and alternative energy technologies, the legislation will:
- Spur the development of alternative fuels through government contracting by repealing the “Section 526” prohibition on government purchasing of alternative energy and promoting coal-to-liquids technology, as proposed in H.R. 5656 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), in H.R. 6384 by Rob Bishop (R-UT), and in H.R. 2208 by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL).
- Establish a renewable energy trust fund using revenues generated by exploration in the deep ocean and on the Arctic coastal plain, as proposed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).
- Permanently extend the tax credit for alternative energy production, including wind, solar and hydrogen, as proposed in H.R. 2652 by Rep. Phil English (R-PA) and in H.R. 5984 by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD).
- Eliminate barriers to the expansion of emission-free nuclear power production, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT).
But our favorite part of Scher’s point is when he cites a “report commissioned by the wind and solar energy industries” that shows how further subsidizing their industry will lead to thousands of new jobs. Unfortunately, the link to the “report” is broken, but we are sure it exists: any industry worth a dime here in Washington can cook up some report showing how many jobs will be created if the government just helped them out a little bit.
Next Campaign for America’s Future will be telling us about all those National Corn Growers Association reports that show how many jobs liberals saved by voting to keep cheap Brazilian ethanol out of our country.