Romney on Energy
April 26th, 2007 by Carbon Coalition
The last couple of days have turned Portsmouth into a happening town on the political front. In Prescott Park, Sen. McCain made his presidential bid official yesterday, and today Gov. Mitt Romney made the Republican rite-of-passage stop at Genos Sandwich and Chowder Shop.
Romney easily made the rounds of the filled but not crowded restaurant, and when he came over to my table to shake hands I had the chance to ask him how he plans to address the issue of global warming. I was impressed with his ability–almost like a trained ventriliquist–to hold a smile for the camera, while at the same time addressing my question. He laughed, pointed to my “Stop Global Warming” lapel sticker and said “I had a feeling you might ask me that.” Prior to the event I read the ”Energy” page on his website, and most of his answer was simply a recitation: “We must become independent from foreign sources of oil…developing alternative sources of energy like biodiesel, ethanol…” Not very surprisingly, he left out the part of the text that says “and finding more domestic sources of oil such as in ANWR or the Outer Continental Shelf.”
“If there is a carbon cap” he said today, “I’ll make sure it’s global and not just domestic.” I appreciate talk of a carbon cap (that wasn’t on his website), but the “if” is not very encouraging.
Be sure to catch the first official Democratic debate tonight beginning at 7:00pm on MSNBC. The debate will take place in South Carolina, and if this week’s global warming buzz in the state is any indicator, global warming will likely be a hot (sorry) topic.
