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Kaine Supports Off Shore Drilling, Fracking, Coal and Nuclear – and the TPP Trade Deal

Pro-Wall Street – Neoliberal economic regulation and labor policies just as bad

Everybody seems to wonder, what it’s like down here
I gotta get away from this day to day runnin’ around
Everybody knows this is nowhere
Everybody, everybody knows, everybody knows ~~~ “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” Neil Young

[Update: 7/30/16 – very similar view on Kaine, from the left:

But one of Kaine’s most worrying positions may be his support for the fossil-fuel industry. Kaine continues to push fracking, and he doesn’t oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 550-mile natural gas pipeline that would transport dangerous fossil fuels right through the heart of Virginia. Seemingly unaware of the dire climate change reports that keep appearing, Kaine argues that an all-of-the-above energy policy — including drilling off the coast of Virginia — is the best path forward. ~~~ end update]

I try to stay way from national issues and partisan politics, but I just read this and had to share.

Read Professor Bill Black’s take on Wall Street and economic policy implications. Bill is one of my favorite’s on economic regulation.

While the source below on energy policy is the Republican Party, and it is spun and I don’t know if all these warped views are his current thinking, it is factual and well documented.

See you in Philly on the street.

Kaine Supports Energy Sources That Sanders Wants To Do Away With

In 2013, Kaine And Fellow Virginia Democrat Senator Mark Warner Introduced Legislation To Lift The Moratorium On Offshore Drilling. “U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine introduced legislation Wednesday that would lift the federal ban on exploration and drilling for natural gas and oil off the coast of Virginia. The moratorium, which lasts through 2017, was put in place by President Barack Obama’s administration following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.Warner and Kaine want the moratorium lifted so that decades old maps of Virginia’s offshore energy resources can be updated and leases for offshore gas and oil drilling as well as wind farms can go into effect in 2020.” (Todd Allen Wilson, “Sens. Warner, Kaine Hope To End Offshore Drilling Ban,”Daily Press, 5/22/13)

In 2007, Kaine Wanted To Expand Offshore Drilling After Exploration Off The Coast Of Virginia. “Kaine’s plan addresses the possibility of natural gas reserves off the coast of Virginia, but does not change his administration’s previous position on offshore drilling: that only exploration should be allowed at this time before leases are sold to allow actual drilling and production.” (Patrick Lynch, “Kaine Pushes Conservation In His Virginia Energy Plan,” Daily Press [Newport News, VA], 9/13/07)

• Sanders Has A “Consistent Record Opposing Offshore Drilling.” “Bernie Sanders’ campaign on Thursday contrasted his consistent record opposing offshore oil drilling with Hillary Clinton’s support for a bill that allowed more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.” (“Sanders In Florida Puts Focus On Climate Change And Offshore Drilling,” Press Release, 3/10/16)

In 2008, Environmentalists Criticized Gov. Kaine For His Support Of Dominion’s New Coal Plant In Southwest Virginia. “Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has been battered by criticism from environmentalists over his support of a new coal-fired power plant for southwest Virginia, which Dominion Virginia Power says is essential to the state’s energy needs but which could also lead to higher utility rates for consumers statewide.” (Tim Craig, “Kaine Irks Environmentalists By Supporting Coal-Burning Plant,” The Washington Post, 3/30/08)

• Kaine Said The U.S. Would Not “Abandon Coal” As A Source Of Energy. “We are not going to eliminate coal, a native source that we have, as one of the sources that will power our country,’ Kaine said in a radio interview. The portion [of the energy supply] that is coal is going to get smaller, and it is going to get cleaner, but we are not going to abandon coal from the portfolio.” (Tim Craig, “Kaine Says Coal-Burning Power Plant Is Necessary,” The Washington Post, 3/30/08)

Kaine Supported Nuclear Power As A Solution To Meeting Virginia’s Energy Needs. “In Virginia last week, a panel on reducing climate change appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) considered adding nuclear power to its menu of recommendations. The governor’s energy plan also supports nuclear power as one solution to meeting the state’s energy needs, which are expected to grow by the equivalent of a million homes in the next decade.” (Lisa Rein and Christy Goodman, “Little Outcry On Nuclear Reactor Proposal,” The Washington Post, 8/4/08)

Sanders Wants To End The Country’s Dependence On Coal And Nuclear.”Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders unveiled a climate change plan on Monday that seeks to end the country’s dependence on oil, coal and nuclear energy and could pressure party front-runner Hillary Clinton. The Vermont senator’s plan envisions 10 million new jobs in clean energy such as wind, solar and geothermal power. It would ban oil and gas lobbyists from working in the White House, end new fossil fuel lease sales on public lands, and would cut carbon emissions faster in coming decades than the goals set in President Barack Obama’s clean power plan.” (“Bernie Sanders Unveils Climate Plan To End US Oil, Coal And Nuclear Dependence,” Reuters, 12/7/15)