OH-16: John Boccieri Leads Schuring on Energy Issues

Schuring Follows Boccieri's Lead on Energy

Canton, OH - Months after U.S. Congressional Candidate John Boccieri first announced his energy plan, opponent Kirk Schuring has finally offered an energy proposal that endorses many of Boccieri's policies.

Senator Major John Boccieri said in a statement, today:

"I'm flattered that Sen. Schuring has finally embraced energy ideas I've been talking about for months, but I'm disappointed it took him this long to realize people are concerned about high gas prices. Unfortunately, his plan still doesn't provide enough short-term solutions to our high gas prices, and I think voters will wonder whether someone who raised their gas taxes and has taken $20,000 from oil executives is really serious about making the big energy policy changes we need."

Today Schuring adopted Boccieri's proposals to crack down on Wall Street speculation, build new refineries, encourage fuel conservation and fuel-efficient vehicle research, and invest in U.S.-based alternative energy technologies like clean coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and biofuels.

I wonder how that will play with the "independent swing-voters"?

However, Schuring's plan still does not include many measures Boccieri has proposed to provide short-term relief at the pump, such as releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or pushing oil companies to drill first on the untapped U.S. leases they already hold, including 33.5 million acres off America's coasts.

Instead, Schuring continues to claim that opening up ANWR and more U.S. coastline to drilling is a "short-term solution" to high gas prices. This notion has been refuted by experts across the political spectrum, including George W. Bush's own Energy Department, which found that these steps would not have an impact for roughly 20 years.

Boccieri added:

"We need a lot more than drilling to get us out of this mess. We need to do what it takes to lower gas prices quickly and transition to home-grown alternative energy sources as soon as possible."

Boccieri recently released a new radio spot about his energy plan, which can be heard here.

You can read Boccieri's complete energy plan is available on his website.

One fact just isn't going away:

OH-16: John Boccieri on "Gas Prices and Energy" an Editorial

Just in case you missed it!

We know that all of the readers of the John Boccieri for U.S. Congress don't all get "The Canton Repository". So, it is our great pleasure to bring you a Sunday, "Editorial" by the Senator Major John Boccieri(D) himself. This is "smart" OH-16 energy policy!

Make oil companies drill on land they already have

Sunday, July 20, 2008

BY STATE SEN. JOHN BOCCIERI

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE,

16TH OHIO DISTRICT, U.S. HOUSE

We need to bring gas prices down today and achieve energy independence as soon as possible. That means releasing fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, making oil companies drill on the land they already have, and accelerating our transition to alternative energy sources. ANWR drilling wouldn't yield oil for 10-20 years and would do more for oil company profits than for the American middle class.

Right now, oil companies are sitting on 68 million U.S. acres, including coastal waters, that are approved for drilling today. They should stop prospecting and start drilling.

Under the Bush administration, oil companies have received huge tax breaks and quadrupled their profits, and all we have is $4-per-gallon gas. They've done nothing to demonstrate that giving them even more will get us out of this mess.

Reducing our fuel consumption is as important as developing alternative energy sources.

In the same time that big oil companies want to spend prospecting, we could completely transition to proven alternatives like wind and solar that would create "green-collar" jobs and free us from oil forever. We need to invest in serious research, like Stark State's fuel-cell facility, not game show gimmicks.

Nuclear should be a part of America's energy policy, but only if reliable and completely safe for local communities and the environment.

Park Farms in Canton is struggling to afford corn feed for chickens. We should develop diversified, next-generation biofuels that we can grow in the 16th District and refine at cutting-edge local refineries, boosting our entire economy. Utilities should be required to develop 25 percent of their production from "clean" energy sources by 2025. In the Ohio Legislature, I supported a similar measure.

Ohio sits on 250 years of coal reserves. A clean-coal refinery is being built in a neighboring county. Stark County could be the next location for a cutting-edge facility.

OH-16: John Boccieri on Gas Prices and Energy

Controlling Energy Costs, Creating Jobs, Protecting our Environment

In July, John spoke about high gas prices and his energy solutions at a Canton gas station. Watch the video below:



Since 2001, the price of gas in Ohio has doubled while progress toward energy independence has stalled in Washington.

Oil companies have received billions in tax giveaways and quadrupled their profits under George W. Bush, but they've barely begun to drill for oil on 68 million acres of U.S. land that they already own. Today, Americans are just as dependent on foreign dictators and rogue regimes for our energy as we were seven years ago.

John believes that America's energy should come from Midwest innovation, not Middle East oil. In the same 10-15 years it would take to develop new sources of oil, we could invest in cutting-edge technologies and businesses right here in Ohio's 16th District that will lead to home-grown, affordable, renewable energy while creating high-paying local jobs and turning around our economy.

John's short-term and long-term energy solutions include:

Requiring oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres of U.S. land they already own.

Cracking down on Wall Street speculators who are artificially inflating oil prices.

Halting shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – which have stopped as of July 1 and will remain suspended through the end of the year.

Increasing energy efficiency and conservation in the United States.

Supporting fuel-efficient vehicles and programs like the fuel cell research at Stark State to boost the local economy.

Investing in biofuels that can be grown in the 16th District.

Building new local refineries to process biofuels and other next-generation fuel sources.

Creating an Apollo program to revolutionize our energy sources, develop cutting-edge technologies like wind, solar, clean coal and biomass power, and free us from oil dependence forever.

Isn't it time for real changes to lead Ohio's 16th Congressional District in the 21st Century economy?