Shelley Moore Capito on Energy & Oil Republican Representative (WV-2)

AdWatch: Fights back against Obama's war on coal

Capito, according to the Chamber, is "fighting back against the Obama administration's war on coal." The spot, which begins airing Thursday, describes her as a strong conservative who will "stand up for all of West Virginia. She's one of us."

Cap-and-trade plus aggressive EPA are job-killing

Pres. OBAMA: I know that West Virginia struggles with unemployment. That's part of the reason why I've said that we need a comprehensive energy policy that sets us up for a long-term future. For example, nobody has been a bigger promoter of clean coal technology than I am. Testament to that, I ended up being in a whole bunch of advertisements that you guys saw all the time about investing in way for us to burn coal more cleanly. I've said that I'm a promoter of nuclear energy, something that I think over the last 3 decades has been subject to a lot of partisan wrangling & ideological wrangling. I think that that has to be part of our energy mix.

Rated 17% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence.

OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2005-2006 CAF scores as follows:

• 0% - 30%: opposition of energy independence (approx. 206 members)
• 30% - 70%: mixed record on energy independence (approx. 77 members)
• 70%-100%: support for energy independence (approx. 183 members)

The Campaign for America`s Future (CAF) is a center for ideas and action that works to build an enduring majority for progressive change. The Campaign advances a progressive economic agenda and a vision of the future that works for the many, not simply the few. The Campaign is leading the fight for America`s priorities--against privatization of Social Security, for investment in energy independence, good jobs and a sustainable economy, for an ethical and accountable Congress and for high quality public education.

About the CAF report, `Energy Independence: Record vs. Rhetoric`:

Energy independence has surfaced as a defining issue in the current elections. Are most candidates and both parties truly committed? To help distinguish the demonstrated level of support for homegrown, clean energy alternatives, we examined the voting records of current U.S. Representatives and Senators on bills vital to promoting those interests. Key pieces of legislation included goals for independence, and subsidies for the development of alternatives compared to subsidies for drilling and digging. We then compared votes on these issues with campaign contributions from major oil interests. The results show strong inverse correlations between political contributions from big oil and votes for energy independence.

Establish a Carbon Storage Research Corporation.

Authorizes qualified industry organizations to conduct a referendum among utilities delivering fossil fuel-based electricity for the creation of a Carbon Storage Research Corporation to establish a program to accelerate the commercial availability of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies and methods through the provision of contracts and financial assistance:

• Requires the Corporation, annually, to assess the relative carbon dioxide emission rates of different fossil fuel-based electricity for each utility.
• Sets initial rates of assessment for coal, natural gas, and oil.
• Authorizes the Corporation to adjust the assessments to reflect changes in the expected quantities of such electricity from different fuel types such that the assessments generate between $1.0 billion and $1.1 billion annually.
• Authorizes the Corporation to collect assessments and conduct operations for 10 years.
• Dissolves the Corporation after 15 years.

Bar greenhouse gases from Clean Air Act rules.

Amends the Clean Air Act to:
1. exclude from the definition of the term `air pollutant` carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride; and
2. declare that nothing in the Act shall be treated as authorizing or requiring the regulation of climate change or global warming.

No EPA regulation of greenhouse gases.

Congressional Summary of H.R.97:

Amends the Clean Air Act to:
1. exclude from the definition of the term `air pollutant` carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride; and
2. declare that nothing in the Act shall be treated as authorizing or requiring the regulation of climate change or global warming.

Congressional Summary of H.R.153, `Ensuring Affordable Energy Act`:

Prohibits any funds appropriated or otherwise available for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from being used to implement or enforce:
1. a cap-and-trade program (any regulatory program that provides for the sale, auction, or other distribution of a limited amount of allowances that permit the emission of one or more greenhouse gases); or
2. any statutory or regulatory requirement pertaining to emissions of one or more greenhouse gases from stationary sources that is issued after January 1, 2011.

OnTheIssues Explanation:These two related bills exclude the EPA from taking on global warming by defining greenhouse gases as a `pollutant.` These bills do not directly oppose regulating greenhouse gases nor cap-and-trade; either could still be accomplished by an act of Congress. Instead, they REQUIRE an act of Congress, rather than letting the President and the EPA bypass Congress by regulatory implementation instead of legislative implementation.

Supports immediate reductions in greenhouse gases.

The Republican Main Street Partnership supports the goal of immediate, near-term reductions in greenhouse gases, and would move toward this goal by providing strong incentives that have minimal adverse impact on the economy, and to continue to apply our best scientific minds to developing a better understanding of the long-term nature of climate change and the means to cope with it.

Two objectives should be accomplished:
1. create an `early action crediting system` to provide assurances to companies that actions taken now to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases will be recognized and credited in the eventual system of emissions reductions standards that will be developed; and
2. commit the necessary resources to national and international scientific efforts to better understand the cause and effect of global climate change.