Former Massachusetts Governor and presumptive Republican presidential Mitt Romney nominee released his energy plan yesterday, which can be found here. According to the document, Romney “will make every effort to safeguard the environment, but he will be mindful at every step of also protecting the jobs of American workers. This will require putting conservative principles into action: significant regulatory reform, support for increased production, and a government that focuses on funding basic research instead of chasing fads and picking winners.”
A Romney Administration would focus on domestic fossil fuel production. The Boston Herald reports that Romney “predicted complete ‘North American energy independence by 2020, a never-realized goal claimed by presidential candidates for decades.’”
Coal would play a large role in Romney’s energy portfolio, including “clean coal.” Additionally, Romney, a supporter of free market ideals, believes that “Government funding should be focused on research and development of new energy technologies and on initial demonstration projects that establish the feasibility of discoveries.” His plan does not include support for a cap-and-trade program.
Former Missouri Senator Jim Talent is quoted in the document as saying “We need to fund basic research on alternative energies, stop intervening on behalf of or against particular companies or products, and phase out subsidies of technologies that have made little or no progress toward competing successfully in the market.”
Among the changes Romney would institute are the following:
- Overhauling The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws.
- Permitting drilling wherever it can be done safely, taking into account local concerns. This includes the Gulf of Mexico, both the Atlantic and Pacific Outer Continental Shelves, Western lands, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and off the Alaska coast.
- Ending subsidies for clean energy that were instituted under the current administration.
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