Gabriel Gomez, the Republican opponent of Democrat Ed Markey in the U.S. Senate special election to fill John Kerry’s seat in Massachusetts, is working hard to be all things to all people, and nowhere is that more evident than his positions truthiness on climate and energy policy:
Climate change is real. However, while science says climate change is real, addressing the problem must be done rationally. Unfortunately, many solutions offered by politicians in Washington are not rational, and would put America at a competitive disadvantage. We need a serious energy agenda that promotes private sector innovation in both the United States and in other countries around the world.
Oh, I get it. He supports confronting climate change with a national policy to spur clean energy projects like Cape Wind, right? Not exactly:
Gomez, however, said [Cape Wind] is an issue that should be decided at the local level, and that the local authorities have been pretty much excluded from the process. Gomez made it clear his is opposed to Cape Wind.
So, local control all the way! Then he must oppose Keystone XL tar sands pipeline because of strong local opposition, right? Wrong again:
The Obama administration is wrong in stopping the Keystone pipeline, a project that will create jobs, drive down our energy costs, and help us to become energy independent.
Worth noting: Gabriel Gomez thinks that for some reason TransCanada is dramatically lowballing the benefits of its own Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. TransCanada doesn’t say Keystone will drive down energy costs – it knows Keystone won’t lower gas prices anywhere in America and would actually raise gas prices in the Midwest. TransCanada doesn’t say Keystone will make America energy independent – it knows Keystone is an export pipeline that’s being built to get tar sands to the Gulf Coast and the international market so Canada doesn’t have to dump tar sands oil in the Midwest anymore.
To sum up, Gabriel Gomez says he understands climate change is threatening Massachusetts with extreme weather like superstorm Sandy, rising sea levels, and deadly summer heat waves – he just doesn’t want to do anything about it. And Gomez thinks we need a national energy policy, except in cases where the mansion views of Republican donors are threatened, or if those donors really want a polluting project built even if it’s not in America’s national interest.
What’s the reason for Gomez’s incoherence? With the U.S. Senate’s antiquated disclosure laws, we don’t know yet where Gomez is getting his money. But given his refusal to sign the people’s pledge to reject big-spending special interests, I’d suspect he personally knows exactly what climate change means, but he knows the implications of that truth are far too inconvenient for today’s fossil fuel money-addicted Republican Party.
Cross-posted from The Green Miles
The contrast on climate and energy is extraordinary, and it is important to let people know about these differences because we cannot count on a bored and cynical press corps to care about actual policy in these areas. Most of the local pundits and columnists could care less about the climate.