Romney’s Not So Conservative Environmental Position – Just So You Know
When Mitt Romney, currently candidate for the Republican nomination for president, was governor of Massachusetts, he appointed:
- John Holdren, President Barack Hussein Obama’s Science Czar
- Gina McCarthy, Obama’s EPA Assistant Administrator
- James Connaughton, head of Bush’s Council of Environmental Quality, and a long time supporter of cap and trade
- Edward Krenik, former Bush EPA member, and supporter of cap and trade
- Alexander A. Karsner, Bush’s DOE assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, which promoted “marketplace integration of renewable and environmentally sound energy technologies”
To be fair, Romney appointed Jeff Holmstead, who authored Alaska Senator Lisa Mulkowski’s bid to stop the EPA’s actions. He has been critical of the Obama administration’s green jobs strategy, and was critical of the Obama administration’s position on the Keystone oil pipeline, as well as the moratorium on offshore drilling.
In 2003, while governor of Massachusetts, Romney, while outside an aging, coal-fired plant, said, “I will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people, and that plant, that plant kills people.”
In 2005, while governor of Massachusetts, Romney hailed Massachusetts as “the first and only state to set CO2 emissions limits on power plants.” His administration then said, “These carbon emission limits will provide real and immediate progress in the battle to improve our environment.”
Mitt Romney favors ethanol subsidies. He proposes a new regulatory framework for the EPA that would “preserve environmental gains without paralyzing industry” (whatever that means), while streamlining air rules for coal plants and reforming regulations for the nuclear industry. Romney opposes abolishing or structurally changing the EPA.
So what does all of this mean? Well, right now, nothing. Mitt Romney is not president and cannot implement policies or appoint anyone. But since he garnered the most convention delegates yesterday, I thought you might like to know his past history on environmental issues, who he has appointed, and what we might expect if he does become president.
Mitt Romney at his worst would still be an improvement over what we have now!
But that’s just my opinion.