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Allen continues his backward anti-clean energy campaign

Richmond, VA - George Allen's promise to keep this nation eternally dependent on fossil fuels and forfeit the global competition for the clean energy jobs of the future has been a central theme of his reelection campaign and he doesn't appear to be ready to give it up anytime soon.

Today during a radio interview with G. Gordon Liddy he reiterated his long-held hostility to clean and renewable energy and the jobs that come with it, saying, "they think you're going to power our economy on intermittent, expensive, and unreliable sources." He has previously accused proponents of alternative energy of "tilting at intermittent, expensive windmills."

"When George Allen says he wants to 'unleash our energy resources' he only means the resources that line the pockets of the oil companies that pay him," said DPVA Executive Director David Mills. "His position on clean energy is backward and ridiculous, even compared to other right-wing Republicans like Bob McDonnell, who at least recognizes that energy independence will require utilizing every form of American energy, especially clean and renewable energy.

"Our country is in an international race to succeed in the clean energy economy, but we will lose out if we are weighed down by George Allen and his anti-clean energy agenda."

While on the campaign trail, Allen has also pushed for federal approval of the Keystone pipeline, even before the affected states had time to review the project. This rush to support his oil company allies contradicts his own standards of review on other energy issues such as whether or not to lift Virginia's ban on uranium mining, about which Allen said, "while jobs are important, so is public health and safety."

BACKGROUND
2011: Allen Criticized Democrats For Supporting R&D In Clean Energy, Which He Characterized As "Tilting At Intermittent, Expensive Windmills." In a April 2011 op-ed in the Washington Examiner, George Allen criticized President Obama "and his liberal allies in Washington" for pushing clean-energy technology and launching a "full-scale assault on conventional fuels." Allen wrote: "In answering a college student's question about high gas prices last week at Northern Virginia Community College, President Obama told Americans he believes the only real way to reduce our energy costs is to spend money on research and development of clean-energy technology. Sadly, the president and his liberal allies in Washington seem more concerned about tilting at intermittent, expensive windmills and throwing up bureaucratic roadblocks to using our American resources than the crippling impact of high energy costs. wind and solar power technologies remain costly and years away - if ever - from widespread use." [Allen op-ed, Washington Examiner,4/26/11]

Allen's Views On Wind Differed From Gov. McDonnell's. In April 2011, the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Virginia Politics blog noted that Allen's views on wind differed from Gov. Bob McDonnell's. The blog wrote that Allen's Examiner op-ed on energy was "sharply critical of Obama's push to spend for the research and development of clean-energy technology," and was published on the same day that Gov. McDonnell touted the benefits of wind energy. A spokesperson for McDonnell said that offshore wind farms are a significant part of McDonnell's energy goals.  [Virginia Politics blog, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 4/27/11]

2009: Allen Said Coal Oil And Natural Gas Are The Solution To The Nation's Energy Problem, Not Wind And Solar Because "The Sun Doesn't Shine All The Time; The Wind Doesn't Blow All The Time." [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 6/4/09]

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by: lowkell @ Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 22:23:57 PM UTC