The New York Times 2010s: on Energy & Oil


Jeff Apodaca: Old and new energy industries must adapt

Apodaca noted that oil and gas exploration make up 35 percent of the state's economy and cannot be replaced. Apodaca said he would work with those industries to invest in technology that would recapture fugitive methane. He also highlighted opportunities for developing renewable energy, such as solar power.
Source: Farmington Daily Times on 2018 New Mexico Gubernatorial race Aug 3, 2017

Donald Trump: Revive the coal industry; end efforts to curb carbon

President Trump, flanked by company executives and miners, signed a long-promised executive order to nullify President Barack Obama's climate change efforts and revive the coal industry, effectively ceding American leadership in the international campaign to curb the dangerous heating of the planet.

Trump made clear that the United States had no intention of meeting the commitments that his predecessor had made to curb planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution, turning denials of climate change into national policy. Trump directed the Environmental Protection Agency to start the complex and lengthy legal process of withdrawing and rewriting the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would have closed hundreds of coal-fired power plants, frozen construction of new plants and replaced them with vast new wind and solar farms.

"C'mon, fellas. You know what this is? You know what this says?" Trump said to the miners. "You're going back to work."

Source: N.Y.Times on 2017 Trump Administration Mar 28, 2017

Rick Perry: Defend Keystone XL and other oil & gas exploration

Perry is skeptical that human behavior causes climate change, and believes that trying to curb planet-warming emissions will harm the economy. Nevertheless, he has said recently that under his leadership in Texas, levels of climate-warming carbon emissions decreased 9% because of regulatory incentives. In defending continued oil and gas exploration and the Keystone XL oil pipeline last summer, he said of climate change, "I don't believe that we have the settled science by any sense of the imagination to stop that kind of economic opportunity." He added, "I am not a scientist," a common line among Republican climate-change skeptics.

During Perry's last five years as governor, Texas led the nation in job growth. He attributed that success to his focus on keeping taxes low and slashing spending, which included curbing regulations and expediting coal-fired power plant projects.

Source: N.Y. Times 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jun 4, 2015

Terry McAuliffe: 2012: Started GreenTech electric car company & soon resigned

Terry McAuliffe appeared with his good friend Bill Clinton at the ribbon-cutting for Mr. McAuliffe's electric car company in July 2012, the campaign-style event, complete with "Born in the U.S.A." blaring.

McAuliffe resigned as GreenTech's chairman last year but publicly acknowledged it only this month. Documents have surfaced questioning his explanation for why he located the plant in Mississippi, not Virginia, including memos from Virginia officials expressing "grave doubts" about his business model and suggesting its financing was a "visa-for-sale scheme" for Chinese investors.

McAuliffe said the struggles of GreenTech--which once promised 1,500 jobs but today employs only 78 at its plant--are typical of any start-up in a tough economy. "How many people start electric car companies?" he said in an interview. "How many do it in a recession?"

Ken Cuccinelli has seized on the GreenTech saga in an attempt to attack McAuliffe's chief asset as a candidate, his business acumen.

Source: New York Times on 2013 Virginia governor debates Apr 26, 2013

John Hoeven: Managed the rapid growth in ND's oil country

Potter criticized Hoeven for poorly managing the rapid growth in ND's oil country; many people can't afford housing because oil companies have raised the rent. "I've been to the oil patch. The story I'm hearing all over is that we've gone too fast,'' Potter said. "We've more than doubled the oil production. But it's tough on those towns.''

"I find it ironic that at a time when we have a national recession, Tracy wants to go to Washington D.C. because he knows how to slow things down,'' Hoeven said.

Source: Crookston Daily Times coverage of 2010 N.D. Senate Debate Sep 24, 2010

Tracy Potter: People can't afford housing in ND's oil patch

After a question about weaning the country off foreign oil, Potter criticized Hoeven for poorly managing the rapid growth in North Dakota's oil country. Potter said many people can't afford housing because oil companies have raised the cost of rent. "I've been to the oil patch. The story I'm hearing all over is that we've gone too fast,'' Potter said. "We've more than doubled the oil production. This is good. It's great for the economy. But it's tough on those towns.'
Source: Crookston Daily Times coverage of 2010 N.D. Senate Debate Sep 24, 2010

Charlie Crist: Open to cap-and-trade plan for carbon emissions

Crist's reputation as a moderate flows in part from his willingness to break from his party on offshore drilling (which he opposed, until 2008) and his openness to notions like a "cap and trade" plan for the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
Source: New York Times on 2010 Florida Senate debate Jan 10, 2010

  • The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times, 2010-2019.
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2020 Presidential contenders on Energy & Oil:
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Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
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CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
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Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
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Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
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