I would like to express my concern regarding reports that the Administration may believe it has the unilateral power to commit the government of the United States to certain standards that may be agreed upon at the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The phrase “politically binding” has been used.
Although details have not been made available, recent statements by Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern indicate that negotiators may be intending to commit the United States to a nationwide emission reduction program. As you well know from your time in the Senate, only specific legislation agreed upon in the Congress, or a treaty ratified by the Senate, could actually create such a commitment on behalf of our country.
I would very much appreciate having this matter clarified in advance of the Copenhagen meetings.
Lowell Feld: So if a new problem like global warming, climate change comes along, do you adjust to that and change your views on coal-fired power plants? Because that’s something that wasn’t a major issue. When you ran in 2005, climate change didn’t really come up much…
Creigh Deeds: Here is the reality. Climate change is an issue. Energy is an issue right now. Everybody is talking about it. Energy is an issue. And coal… represents another opportunity for Virginia. I mean, we have an opportunity to develop smart technology. Think about it this way: we get about 52% of our electric power from coal today. If every air conditioner in Northern Virginia shuts down, we’ve got an alternative in coal. Or we find out how to burn it cleanly. Find out how to burn it cleanly.
You’re telling me that the people who put man on the moon. The people who figured out peaceful and wartime uses of nuclear power. The people that invented the airplane… can’t figure out how to burn coal cleanly. We’re going to have figure out how to eliminate mercury emissions. We’re going to have to figure out how to sequester the carbon. But we’re going to have to reason together and let’s try to figure this thing out.
He continues in the same video:
If clean coal technology doesn’t work out… you know, coal is… being pragmatic means being able to adjust to the circumstance and figure out how to solve the problem. I think we have to solve the problem. If we’re going to use coal as a source of power I think we have got to reduce the carbon footprint.
That is all I could stomach.
October 5th 2009:
Voiceover in Deeds for Governor ad: Creigh Deeds says no to any new energy taxes from Washington.
October 22nd 2009:
Deeds for Governor Ad: I know Creigh Deeds and he opposes that cap and trade bill and he would not do anything to hurt the people in this area. Creigh knows the workers in this plant and he would never do anything to hurt their jobs.
When pundits tell us that Deeds’ loss today is a repudiation of Liberalism, or of Obama, keep these three videos in mind. When it comes to energy policy Creigh Deeds is no liberal and he has very little in common with Obama. If anything, Deeds’ loss should be considered a repudiation of conservative Democrats. Democrats were really on a roll in Virginia. It came to the end when they ran a conservative.
