2018 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Energy & Oil


Dan Malloy: Aggressively pursue clean energy

We need to create a new comprehensive resiliency plan--one that gives Connecticut towns the tools and the resources they need to protect their residents. Together, let's create a new, more aggressive target for clean air. Let's mandate that by the year 2030, 75 percent of Connecticut energy is clean energy.
Source: 2018 Connecticut State of the State address Feb 7, 2018

Tom Wolf: Severance tax on natural gas is common sense

Pennsylvania is one of the few states fortunate enough to have abundant natural gas resources. And yet we are the only one of those states without a severance tax. And let's understand exactly what a severance tax is. It's a tax paid by people mostly outside of Pennsylvania to use our natural resources. And by failing to put in place this commonsense tax, we're actually just paying other states' taxes.
Source: 2018 Pennsylvania State of the State address Feb 6, 2018

Larry Hogan: Combat greenhouse gas emissions; grow green jobs

We pushed for landmark legislation to cement our state's position as a national and international leader in combating greenhouse gas emissions. We expanded the Climate Change Commission. We enacted the Clean Water Commerce Act, the Clean Cars Act, and several other bills to protect our environment and to grow clean energy investment and green jobs. And we enacted clean air standards which are stronger than 48 other states and nearly twice as strong as the Paris accord recommendations.
Source: 2018 Maryland State of the State address Jan 31, 2018

Henry McMaster: Oppose offshore drilling & onshore infrastructure

Every municipality along our coast has voted to oppose drilling. With offshore drilling comes the construction of onshore infrastructure--refineries, gas storage tanks, maintenance and operating facilities, trucks and traffic. We have no place to put it. It is incompatible with everything we have and do on our coast.

Oil spills, like hurricanes, can disrupt and damage a state's economy. We cannot stop hurricanes, but we can avoid oil spills. We cannot take a chance.

Source: 2018 State of the State speech to South Carolina legislature Jan 24, 2018

Doug Burgum: On energy, all of the above

We have an approach in our state, which is all of the above. So we're supporting oil and gas. We're supporting coal. We're supporting wind. Oil and gas, obviously, most of that, a lot of that's going towards transportation fuels. As the renewable continues to grow and grow, at a low variable cost, those dynamics put pressure on the economics between those two. We have to continue to sort that out as we go forward.
Source: 2018 North Dakota State of the State address Jan 23, 2018

Bill Walker: Increased oil production key part of energy policy

We make nothing on oil discovered but left in the ground. Access and production are key. We are now working to develop toll roads so exploration can take place 12 months a year rather than just in the winter months. We applaud the recent production activities which have resulted in two consecutive years of increased oil throughput in the pipeline. We also welcome all the new players out in the field working hard to increase production.
Source: 2018 Alaska State of the State address Jan 18, 2018

Gina Raimondo: Green energy means jobs

We've proven that you can grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time: We're the only state in America with an off-shore wind farm. We're on track to make our energy system 10 times cleaner by 2020. Since 2014, we've added more than 5,000 green jobs--a 66 percent increase. Let's keep going.
Source: 2018 Rhode Island State of the State address Jan 16, 2018

Phil Murphy: Protect our precious Jersey Shore from offshore drilling

We will resist the dangerous and wrong attempt to allow drilling for oil off our precious shore. We will not allow this threat to our environment and our economy to stand. Our administration, along with the bipartisan support of our federal delegation, will not back down in our fight to protect the Jersey Shore from President Trump and the energy industry special interests.

A stronger and fairer New Jersey accepts the reality of climate change, invests aggressively in renewable energy, and upholds the goals of the Paris Climate Accord. A stronger and fairer New Jersey means that someone has your back. I do.

Source: 2018 New Jersey Inauguration/State of the State speech Jan 16, 2018

Ralph Northam: Create clean energy jobs in rural communities

No matter what politicians in Washington say, climate change is real. Sea levels are rising. It affects us every day.

Last year, Governor McAuliffe signed an Executive Directive to begin the process of capping carbon emissions from Virginia's electric utilities and use the power of the market to foster growth and innovation in the clean energy sector. The Clean Energy Virginia initiative is an incredible opportunity to create the next generation of energy jobs and lead the fight against climate change -- and my administration will implement it fully.

I will also support joining a coalition of states called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. We can invest the significant revenues Clean Energy Virginia will generate to create clean energy jobs in rural communities, help families lower their electrical bills, and solidify our position as a global leader in renewable energy.

Source: 2018 State of the State speech to Virginia legislature Jan 16, 2018

Terry McAuliffe: Cap carbon emissions from Virginia's electric utilities

Last year, Governor McAuliffe signed an Executive Directive to begin the process of capping carbon emissions from Virginia's electric utilities and use the power of the market to foster growth and innovation in the clean energy sector. The Clean Energy Virginia initiative is an incredible opportunity to create the next generation of energy jobs and lead the fight against climate change -- and my administration will implement it fully.
Source: Gov. Northam's Virginia 2018 State of the State speech Jan 16, 2018

John Hickenlooper: Close coal plants: cleaner air AND lower utility bills

The responsibility to be good stewards doesn't only fall on rural parts of the state. It rests with all of us. Xcel has submitted a plan to close two coals plants in Pueblo. This will clean our air and lower costs for consumers--and lead to greater investments that support twenty-first-century careers. What is it the critics don't like? Is it the cleaner air or the lower utility bills? Clean air matters.
Source: 2018 State of the State address to the Colorado legislature Jan 11, 2018

Jim Justice: Coal miners back work is good; let's have more

Now, we celebrate our coal miners going back to work. We need not to be satisfied with the numbers that we have back today. We need to be sure that those people are some way looked after from a safety standpoint the very best they possibly can--or can be. But in addition to that, we have got to get more of our coal miners to work. It is an absolute unbelievable thing to travel down through the coalfields and see communities coming back to life. But we got to have more. And then more on top of that.
Source: 2018 West Virginia State of the State address Jan 10, 2018

Jay Inslee: Supports carbon tax

Many states and nations have enacted a price on carbon. Even China is getting on board, having recently launched the largest carbon market on the planet. By passing a carbon tax, we would simply join our West Coast neighbors, and the rest of the world, as the global economy moves away from fossil fuels and toward a decarbonized, clean-energy future. And I believe that Washington is exactly the state to lead the clean-energy economy and seize the jobs that China and other nations are clamoring for.
Source: 2018 Washington State of the State address Jan 9, 2018

Sam Brownback: I dream of Kansas exporting wind power across America

I dream of a future Kansas exporting wind electricity across America. A Kansas known as the Renewable State. It could well be that in the future, those who have the wind resource will flourish like those who now have oil. We are growing as an energy state.
Source: 2018 Kansas State of the State address Jan 9, 2018

  • The above quotations are from 2018 Governor's State of the State speeches.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Energy & Oil.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Kay Ivey on Energy & Oil.
  • Click here for more quotes by Ralph Northam 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: Apr 07, 2019