Reign in the EPA Say Republican Candidates

Iowa Opinions Policy

August 26, 2015

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by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The last batch of Republican presidential candidates took the Soapbox stage during the last weekend of the Iowa State Fair. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) took a different approach and only answered questions. ... When asked about the Renewable Fuel Standard (#RFS), he said he supports the RFS. The problem is that the Obama Administration along with the EPA is not enforcing the law. He stressed that he is a huge supporter of more energy options and the RFS provides just this and he called out to other candidates to make up their mind on their RFS position.

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U.S. Senator from Texas Ted Cruz (R) took much of his time to crack jokes about the Democrats andTed Cruz the rest of his time to talk about all the U.S. government executive orders he would rescind ... As for energy, not sure if reigning in the EPA includes revisions (or trying to overturn) the Renewable Fuel Standard, Clean Power Plan or WOTUS.

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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) went back to the “by the bootstraps” message. ... He wants to ... curb the power of regulatory agencies such as the EPA who is regulating the “water in our backyards”.

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The very last presidential candidate to take the stage was Mark Everson (R) who is the former IRS Commissioner. ... He stressed that tax reform would get the economy going.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry’s main message on the soapbox ... at the Iowa State Fair was to get America back to a constitutional country. ... The former state agriculture commissioner for Texas did not take questions nor did he address energy or ag in any detail while on stage.

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He (Florida Senator Marcus Rubio) also stressed the need to keep our people safe and noted that America is not fully utilizing its energy resources. Like many before him, other than a passing comment, he did not address energy, environment and agriculture.

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He (Ohio Governor John Kasich) answered, “I’m for agriculture. You listen to Terry Branstad [Iowa Governor] and you think about traditional agriculture but what we really have to do is begin to think about how agriculture is going to look like in the next 20 or 25 years. I believe there are so many products that can come from traditional agriculture that can improve the lives of all Americans. And I keep pushing our people to think about that, to use our universities to do the research and to make sure that agriculture and business is closely linked together so that we can spawn new industries out of agriculture.”

“We’re lucky in Ohio,” Kasich continued. “We found natural gas and one of the great things about that is it’s allowing us to become energy independent. So we don’t have to kowtow to the Saudies anymore when it comes down to conducting our foreign policy. We need to look into the future on all of these things, on agriculture, on energy.”

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America’s Renewable Future (ARF) is asking (Wisconsin)Governor (Scott)Walker to clarify his position on the Renewable Fuel Standard after his remarks at the Iowa State Fair on the Des Moines Register Soapbox. Walker called for ethanol mandates to be phased out; yet acknowledge that the industry created around the RFS must stay in place.

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He does not support the “ethanol mandate” or the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) but because it is in place and there is an industry based on the legislation the country needs to support the bill. However, he is pushing for consumer choice at the pump through market access and availability at the pump for higher blends of ethanol. His state has offered grants for retail stations, especially those independently owned, to be able to put flex fuel pumps and offer additional ethanol blends.

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(Senator from South Carolina) Lindsey Graham ... did not address energy, environment or agriculture ....

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(Hewlett-Packard CEO) Carly Fiorina ... took aim at the EPA and stressed innovation rather than regulation will be more effective. And like Walker, she too doesn’t support ethanol mandates and believes they should be phased out. Needless to say, this position is not too popular in country’s largest ethanol producing state. Similar to Graham, she did not directly address agriculture or the environment.

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Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator of Pennsylvania ... was silent on renewable energy, agriculture and climate change.

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And, climate change is real. He (Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont) said, “When we talk about our responsibilities, as adults, as parents, as citizens of this Earth, we have a moral responsibility to make certain that we leave this planet in a way that is habitable for our kids and grandchildren. The debate is over. Climate change is real. Climate change is caused by human activity. Climate change is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. What the United State must do, and I will do as president, is lead the world in working with other countries to transform our energy system.”

Lincoln Chafee, former Governor of Rhode Island ... told the crowd that while he was governor, he worked to curb climate change. ... While he didn’t address renewable energy during his remarks, he did answer the question on his stance on renewable power for rural America. His answer: hydropower. He was part of a group who worked with Canada to bring hydropwer down to the northeast. He stressed that it is reliable, affordable and clean and needs to have a more prominent position in the energy discussion. He also supports other forms of renewable energy including geothermal, wind and solar.

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The closest he (Dr. Ben Carson) came to addressing energy was when he spoke about the importance of the arts in education and when he was growing up if he said Van Gogh, the response was, ‘add gas and the van will go’. All joking aside, in the first Republican debate he said, “I would probably be in favor of taking that $4 billion a year we spend on oil subsidies and using that in new fueling stations’ for 30 percent ethanol blends.”

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He (former New York Governor George Pataki) also said he is the only candidate that grew up on a farm. “I don’t have a plane. I have three tractors. In fact, I was out on a tractor last week moving hay.” He spent most of his life living on a farm and he, his wife and family farm today in upstate New York. “Great, but what does that does it mean? It teaches you values,” stressed Pataki.

Pataki didn’t discuss energy...

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(Martin) O’Malley pitched his 15 point plan to American prosperity. This includes tackling climate change and fostering global sustainably development.

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In terms of energy Jim Webb supports agriculture and renewable energy. He supports the pipeline and says that reports show environmentally the pipeline is neutral. He said he supports an “all above” energy strategy and that includes nuclear energy. He noted America has the safest, best managed nuclear program in the world and it is “totally” clean.

When asked if he supported the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) he replied that he supported renewable energy. He said Iowa is the perfect example of a place where it can work. He has visited a wind farm and an ethanol plant and said he was impressed with the technological advancements seen in the ethanol industry.

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During the question and answer portion of the speech, O’Malley was asked about renewable energy, in particular the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. He advocates for a clean energy grid by 2050 that he says will be “just in the nick of time”. He noted that in Iowa, 30 percent of electricity not only comes from wind energy, but highlighted the fact that multiple wind turbine components are manufactured in the state as well. He touted Hawaii’s goal of 100 percent renewable electricity and California’s 50 percent goal.

O’Malley also stressed that Renewable Energy Portfolios (REPs/RES) and the RFS should not only stay in place, but they should be expanded. He stressed that these are the drivers of American ingenuity in technology development and the next generation of clean energy technologies.

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In terms of the biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), he (Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas) said he is a big supporter. Why? Because our government made a promise to the farmers and those in the biofuels industry. “The government came to American farmers and asked them to engage in a process,” said Huckabee. To pull out disrupts an economy. He said the government made a promise to farmers and the renewable fuel industry and pulling out “just messed up people who trusted their government”. He feels the same about how veterans and those on social security and Medicaid are also being treated. READ MORE includes AUDIOs