2012 Nebraska Senate Debates: on Energy & Oil


Rick Berg: AdWatch: Support oil exploration and coal mining

Political organizations such as American Crossroads (Republican) and Majority PAC (Democratic) have spent more than $3 million on advertising in the North Dakota race. That's close to $6 for every North Dakotan of voting age. The state's last competitive Senate race was in 1986. Berg and Heitkamp are on pace to wage the most expensive Senate election in North Dakota history. Much of the money is being channeled into television spots.

In most ads, Heitkamp is hammered as a stooge for President Barack Obama and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who are portrayed as enemies of oil exploration and coal mining, which are significant industries in North Dakota.

Anti-Berg ads accuse him of wanting to cut spending on Medicare and farm subsidies, and claim that Berg has "gone Washington," a gibe the incumbent Republican congressman himself used against Earl Pomeroy in 2010.

Source: Austin Stateman on 2012 Nebraska Senate debate ad review Sep 15, 2012

Jon Bruning: Coal is good, cheap energy

Deb Fischer questioned whether Bruning should have accepted $100,000 in campaign contributions from out-of-state coal companies. She questioned whether the donations were appropriate, especially since Bruning had joined a lawsuit against the EPA on the behalf of coal companies. "Yes or no? Will you stop taking contributions from industries that could benefit from your position as chief law enforcement officer of Nebraska?" asked Fischer.

Bruning declined to directly answer, although he stood firm in his support of coal, calling it "good, cheap energy." He also stood by his decision to join a lawsuit against the EPA, saying coal companies were being unfairly regulated by the Obama administration. "Rick Perry didn't say a lot of things during his presidential run, but he did say one thing, 'We're the Saudi Arabia of coal,'" said Bruning.

Source: Omaha World-Herald on 2012 Nebraska Senate debate Apr 12, 2012

  • The above quotations are from 2012 Nebraska Senate Debate.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Energy & Oil.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Jon Bruning on Energy & Oil.
  • Click here for more quotes by Bob Kerrey on Energy & Oil.
Candidates and political leaders on Energy & Oil:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018