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COLEMAN FOR U.S. SENATE PRESS RELEASE: “FRANKEN ENTHUSTIASTICALLY ALIGNS HIMSELF WITH ANTI-DRILLING ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | August 22, 2008
ST. PAUL – The following is a statement from Cullen Sheehan, Coleman for Senate campaign manager, regarding the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) endorsement of Al Franken.
“Al Franken’s enthusiastic embrace of an endorsement from an organization that is working to block domestic offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf reveals Al Franken’s true positions on energy.  Despite his new ‘wink-and-nod’ approach to deceive Minnesotans about where he stands on drilling, he’s not fooling anyone.  Like Al Franken, this group opposed legislation containing the first-ever national Renewable Fuels Standard and opposes offshore drilling. Additionally, they oppose nuclear energy expansion, coal-to-liquid fuel and shale oil development.
“Unlike Franken and his anti-drilling allies, Senator Coleman has a demonstrated commitment to renewable fuels and supports a ‘kitchen sink’ approach to energy that includes opening the Outer Continental Shelf to increased drilling, developing shale oil and coal-to-liquid fuel, expanding our commitment to renewable fuels and increasing nuclear power. Norm Coleman is the only candidate in this race who has a real plan and record of fighting for energy independence.â€
LCV and Al Franken: Wrong On Energy
LCV Opposed The Final Version Of The 2005 Energy Bill. “Unfortunately, the energy bill that President Bush signed into law on August 8, 2005 fails to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, provide relief to consumers, or strengthen our national security. Instead, it threatens drinking water by allowing the underground injection of diesel fuel and other chemicals during oil and gas development and exempts oil and gas construction activities from the Clean Water Act. It also authorizes an invasive seismic inventory of oil and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf off our nation’s coasts, which could harm marine wildlife and pave the way for more drilling in currently pristine areas.†(League of Conservation Voters Website, “Issues: Energy Policy,†http://web.archive.org/web/20060217162949/http://www.lcv.org/president-and-congress/issues/page.jsp?itemID=28176054, Accessed on August 22, 2008)
First-Ever National Renewable Fuels Standard Included In 2005 Energy Bill. “President Bush signed into law on Aug. 8 the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which took four years to move through Congress. The signing ceremony was held at a national energy laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M. The new law’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) requires the blending of 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel into the nation’s fuel supply by 2012.†(Sonja Hillgren, “President Bush Signs Energy Bill,†Farm Journal, August 8, 2005)
Franken Would Have Voted Against Bill Containing The First-Ever Renewable Fuels Standard. “Coleman spokesman Friedrich said Franken doesn’t offer much in the way of new proposals, and that Colman has consistently supported efforts to support renewable energy. ‘[Sen. Coleman] co-authored and helped pass the first-ever Renewable Fuels Standard as part of the 2005 Energy Bill, which spurred the current ethanol and biofuels boom in Minnesota,’ Friedrich said. The 2005 major energy bill included some important provisions, but Franken said he would have still voted against it.†(Brad Swenson, “Campaign 2008: Franken touts energy proposals,†Bemidji Pioneer, August 16, 2008)
LCV Opposes Oil Shale Development. “While the 2007 Scorecard is largely focused on energy and global warming, the House once again passed numerous pro-environment amendments to the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, including provisions to strengthen clean air protections, stop subsidies for building logging roads in Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest, and prevent reckless oil shale development on public lands. And in a major departure from the last several years, the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill provides increased funding to begin to restore underfunded environment and conservation agencies and programs.†(League of Conservation Voters Website, “2007 Overview,†http://www.lcv.org/2007-scorecard-overview.html, Accessed on August 22, 2008)
LCV Opposed To Off Shore Drilling. “Offshore drilling would threaten our coasts, our environment, tourism, and our way of life. For these reasons, Congress created the first offshore oil and gas drilling moratorium in 1982, and it has been renewed every year since then. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush instituted a separate set of protections on new coastal drilling, which President Bill Clinton extended through 2012, protecting large and sensitive areas off the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf coasts.†(League of Conservation Voters Website, “Coasts; An Irreplaceable Treasure,†http://lcv.org/president-and-congress/issues/coasts.html, Accessed on August 21, 2008)
LCV Opposes Coal-To-Liquid Fuel Development. “Some Members of Congress are pushing the U.S. to adopt a more robust program for turning Americas coal reserves into fuel. Unfortunately, the process for extracting a usable fuel from coal produces a tremendous amount of global warming pollution. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, using coal-derived fuel produces nearly twice as much of the global warming pollutant carbon dioxide as using gasoline, turning a compact car into an SUV from a global warming perspective. Even if we could somehow capture the carbon (which is not yet possible with current technology), coal fuels are still about 10% worse than gasoline. Rather than spending billions of dollars to support a process that makes the global warming problem worse, we should focus our efforts on increasing fuel efficiency for cars and trucks and developing renewable fuels that can reduce global warming pollution.†(League of Conservation Voters Website, “Coal-To-Liquid; Liquid Coal- the wrong direction,†http://lcv.org/president-and-congress/issues/coal-to-liquid.html, Accessed on August 21, 2008)
LCV Opposes Nuclear Expansion. “In response to Senator McCain’s speech at the Fermi nuclear facility in Monroe, Michigan, League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski issued the following statement: ‘It’s appropriate that Senator McCain speaks today at the site of nuclear meltdown. He supports billions in subsidies to Big Oil and the nuclear industry. That kind of thinking by George Bush has led to today’s energy crisis and four more years can only lead to a total meltdown of America’s energy policy. Instead of billions for new nuclear plants with no plan in sight to deal with dangerous nuclear waste, America should invest in clean, renewable energy sources that will create millions of American jobs. That’s why Barack Obama’s plan calls for $150 billion for renewable energy development.’†(League of Conservation Voters press release, “LCV Responds to Senator McCain’s Energy Proposals,†http://www.lcv.org/newsroom/press-releases/lcv-responds-to-senator-mccain-s-energy-proposals.html, August 5, 2008)
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