Issue Position: Drilling for Oil and Gas and Mining for Coil

Issue Position

We must drill for oil and natural gas now. The economies of Virginia and the country depend upon it. We are a fossil fuel based economy and all the wishful thinking by environmental extremists will not change that for the foreseeable future. Fifty percent of our electricity comes from coal, but some are trying to strangle the coal industry. Our economy is still in recession, but gas prices continue to rise because speculators can see that the future is declining supply. Virginia has lost an estimated thirty thousand jobs because the Obama administration revoked our plans to drill offshore. We could rake a giant step toward lower gas prices and energy independence by allowing the much studied Canadian Keystone Oil Pipeline to go forward. Instead this administration -- with its radical environment views -- risks having that oil go to China instead of coming to the U.S.

There is natural gas waiting to be tapped in various parts of the country. We must go after these valuable resources instead of increasing dependency on foreign oil based on the fantasy that solar and wind will replace oil any time soon. We are not opposed to renewable energy sources, but our priority should be the immediate availability of fossil fuels. Failure to acknowledge this is economic suicide. Cap and Trade, onerous CAFÉ standards, gas taxes and a host of other regulations are crippling an already sick economy, and this anti-capitalist insanity must stop.

Last but certainly not least, the coal industry suffers here in Virginia and throughout Virginia because of the burdensome regulations and licensing requirements. President Obama made clear that he intended to shut down the coal industry. He is taking steps to do just that. We need representation in the U.S. Senate that will fight to reverse these policies of economic destruction.

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