On Friday, March 15, 2013, President Obama proposed the Energy Security Trust which, according to the White House, will, “invest in research that will make future technologies cheaper and better – it will fund the advances that will allow us to run cars and trucks on electricity or homegrown fuels, and on the technology that will enable us to drive from coast-to-coast without a drop of oil.
“Over 10 years, the Energy Security Trust will provide $2 billion for critical, cutting-edge research focused on developing cost-effective transportation alternatives. The funding will be provided by revenues from federal oil and gas development, and will not add any additional costs to the federal budget.”
While you mull that over, I gotta question for you.
What was the number 1 most often repeated mantra from Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign?
You do remember Mitt Romney, don’t you?
Just kidding.
I’m sure that you, like me, can’t forget the poor rich boy who sadly couldn’t buy the only thing he didn’t know he couldn’t buy: that big house behind the wrought iron fence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
Getting back to Romney campaign mantras, I’m not talking about the patronizing stuff he said about how much he cared about poor people . . . or didn’t . . . I’m talking about his ongoing harp on how only he could achieve "North American energy independence by 2020" (do you think the governments of Canada and Mexico would have been okay with President Romney dictating their national energy policies?).
If you’ve forgotten Romney’s rant, permit me to remind you that Romney characterized energy independence as producing “all the energy we use in North America. This is not some pie-in-the-sky kind of thing. This is a real achievable objective.”
Since Romney was the official Republican candidate for the presidency, did this particular mantra, with its implication that President Obama wouldn’t or couldn’t do anything to make America energy independent, represent the official line of the Republican Party?
One would think so . . . wouldn't one?
Could be . . . after all, current Republican House Speaker John Boehner has been wittering about energy independence for years now.
After Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Boehner (how does that spelling sound like ‘bay-ner’?) said, “Republicans are hopeful that we’ll have the opportunity to work with the President-elect to ensure his goal of comprehensive energy reform is realized in a responsible manner that meets our country’s needs. One of the great accomplishments of the 111th Congress and President-elect Obama’s initial years in office could be the implementation of an all of the above energy strategy that bolsters American-made energy, encourages conservation and efficiency, and promotes the use of renewable and alternative fuels.”
That great accomplishment, by the way, along with umpteen others, was never achieved.
Speaker Boehner actually did introduce a House bill in 2009 that would have invested a portion of the money received by the federal government for oil and gas lease sales in a clean-energy program that was similar to President Obama’s proposed Energy Security Trust. Admittedly, the Boehner bill was actually a political ploy designed to counter climate-change legislation introduced by Democrats but while the intent was purely political, the legislation wasn’t.
What about Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell?
Well, he was too busy between 2008 and 2012 with his number one priority (making Barack Obama a one-term president) to do anything substantive about energy independence so we'll just have to forget him.
President Obama, however, stepped up this past Friday to announce a proposal in lieu of Congress’ failure to even acknowledge his call in the 2013 State of the Union address to create an Energy Security fund.
President Obama’s Energy Security Trust proposal . . . how does that sound to you?
Better than the deafening silence we’re hearing from Republicans leaders?
Comments? Questions? Contact the author at: davyjones@businesswriters.biz or Tweet: @DavyZJones
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