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Mitch Daniels on Energy & Oil

Republican IN Governor


Look to US sources of energy; we shoot ourselves in the foot

Although we occupy only 6.5% of the world's land mass, the US is lucky to be home to more of its potential energy than any other country on earth. The problem has been that we have systematically denied ourselves the jobs and the dollars that our energy could produce for us. We have locked up incredible quantities of oil and gas in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf. We have shut down the expansion of the nuclear power industry, pollution-free and carbon-free for those who obsess about these matters Amazingly, we haven't lost the knack for shooting ourselves in the foot. No sooner were fabulous new amounts of shale gas confirmed in states such as PA and NY than antigrowth activists and politicians began conspiring to block access to them, on the flimsiest of environmental claims. Even ethanol, once a darling of the renewable energy left, has fallen from favor, over contorted calculations of its overall carbon impact and erroneous projections that its wider use would make food unaffordable.
Source: Keeping the Republic, by Mitch Daniels, p.225 , Sep 20, 2011

Some subsidies ok for renewable energy

The upside for America, in new energy industry jobs, is too large for us to continue a suicidal national policy. That includes renewable sources. I join with those who look forward to the rapid growth of wind and solar power, and unlike many of my free market allies, I believe in some degree of subsidy and research to jump-start their arrival as meaningful energy contributors. In the last few years, Indiana has led America in the growth of wind power, with our administration's active encouragement.

[However], at the fastest growth rates one can imagine, wind and solar power will still be trivial contributors to our total energy needs for a very long time. And the romantic notion that they will become large sources of "green jobs" in any year soon has been exploded as farcically out of touch with economic reality. We should encourage alternative forms of energy, but it is a willful self-delusion to maintain that these forms of energy are in any sense a "solution" to our economic challenge.

Source: Keeping the Republic, by Mitch Daniels, p.226-227 , Sep 20, 2011

Biofuels oversubsidized but should still be encouraged

Allow me to anger the free market right, of which I consider myself a card-carrying member. I part company when purism rules out, for instance, any encouragement of homegrown biofuels. To me, an all-in assessment of the national interest argues for continued action to expand the use of made-in-America biofuels alongside that of traditional domestic energies. Every gallon of fuel we produce domestically allows us to buy that much less fuel from foreign countries. Creating domestic sources of energy is a national security issue as well as an economic one. Biofuels have been oversubsidized through their adolescence, and I agree that it is time for these subsidies, including the indirect ones of trade barriers, to be phased out. But I respectfully defend the notion of a mandated presence for biofuels in the national energy mix.
Source: Keeping the Republic, by Mitch Daniels, p.228 , Sep 20, 2011

Drill and frack and lease and license

It's time we treat domestic energy production as the economic necessity it is and the job creator it can be. Drill, and frack, and lease, and license, unleash in every way the jobs potential in the enormous energy resources we have been denying ourselves. And help our fellow citizens to understand that a poorer country will not be a greener country, but its opposite. It is freedom and its fruits that enable the steady progress we have made in preserving and protecting God's kingdom.
Source: 2011 Conservative Political Action Conf. Keynote , Feb 10, 2011

Make IN a leader in electric vehicles & solar power industry

In 2009, several young companies who may lead the electric vehicle industry chose Indiana for their plants. Many of their suppliers are following them. Our goal is to be the capital of this potentially massive industry of tomorrow.

Over the last two years, Indiana has been the fastest growing state in wind power, and now businesses seeking to build the equipment for this new industry are coming. Within weeks, you'll see us explode onto the solar power landscape.

Source: Indiana 2010 State of the State Address , Jan 19, 2010

Support clean coal as well as alternative energy

Source: Indiana Gubernatorial Election 2008 Political Courage Test , Nov 1, 2008

Set goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025.

Daniels endorsed setting goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025

A resolution that it is the goal of the United States that, not later than January 1, 2025, the agricultural, forestry, and working land of the US should provide from renewable resources not less than 25% of the total energy consumed and continue to produce safe, abundant, and affordable food, feed, and fiber. [Governors also signed letters of endorsement at www.25x25.org]

Rep. SALAZAR: "Our resolution establishes a national goal of producing 25% of America's energy from renewable sources--like solar, wind and biofuels--by 2025. The "25x'25" vision is widely endorsed, bold, and fully attainable. If implemented, it would dramatically improve our energy security, our economy, and our ability to protect the environment.

"I am pleased that more than 20 of my colleagues in the Senate, from both sides of the aisle, are cosponsoring this resolution. In addition, the "25x'25" vision has been endorsed by 22 current and former governors and several State legislatures across the country. The Big Three automobile manufacturers--Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors--are all behind "25x'25" So are many agricultural organizations, environmental groups, scientists, and businesses, ranging from the Natural Resources Defense Council to John Deere.

"These Americans understand that we cannot continue to import 60% of our oil from foreign countries, many of which are hostile to the US, if we aim to be strong and secure in the world. They know that we will have to build a clean energy economy if we are to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is time for Congress to take a more active role in our clean energy future. Establishing a national goal--"25x'25" is the first step."

Source: 25x'25 Act (S.CON.RES.3 / H.CON.RES.25) 2007-SC03 on Jan 17, 2007

Other governors on Energy & Oil: Mitch Daniels on other issues:
IN Gubernatorial:
Mike Pence
IN Senatorial:
Daniel Coats
Joe Donnelly

Newly elected Nov. 2012:
IN: Mike Pence (R)
NC: Pat McCrory (R)
NH: Maggie Hassan (D)
MT: Steve Bullock (D)
WA: Jay Inslee (D)

Re-elected 2012:
DE: Jack Markell (D)
MO: Jay Nixon (D)
ND: Jack Dalrymple (R)
UT: Gary Herbert (R)
VT: Peter Shumlin (D)
WI: Scott Walker (R)
WV: Earl Ray Tomblin (D)

Up for re-election 2013:
NJ: Chris Christie
VA: Bob McDonnell
Up for re-election 2014:
AK: Sean Parnell
AL: Robert Bentley
AR: Mike Beebe
AZ: Jan Brewer
CA: Jerry Brown
CO: John Hickenlooper
CT: Dan Malloy
FL: Rick Scott
GA: Nathan Deal
HI: Neil Abercrombie
IA: Terry Branstad
ID: Butch Otter
IL: Pat Quinn
KS: Sam Brownback
MA: Deval Patrick
MD: Martin O'Malley
ME: Paul LePage
MI: Rick Snyder
MN: Mark Dayton
NH: Maggie Hassan
NM: Susana Martinez
NV: Brian Sandoval
NY: Andrew Cuomo
OH: John Kasich
OK: Mary Fallin
OR: John Kitzhaber
PA: Tom Corbett
RI: Linc Chafee
SC: Nikki Haley
SD: Dennis Daugaard
TN: Bill Haslam
TX: Rick Perry
VT: Peter Shumlin
WI: Scott Walker
WY: Matt Mead
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Page last updated: Apr 25, 2013