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John Kasich on Energy & OilRepublican Governor; previously Representative (OH-12); 2000 & 2016 candidate for President |
Kasich himself has evolved from when he was running in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. He said then that the overall human impact on climate change is unclear and that "we don't want to destroy people's job, based on some theory that is not proven."
When presented with those comments, Kasich responded: "Yeah, well you know what, we all evolve." He went on to cite a federal government report, issued under the Trump administration, that laid out humans' impact on climate change and the impacts of it. "As I see more and more evidence, especially from our government and scientists, you learn more. Let's step it up."
Kasich opposes the "Green New Deal," a climate change policy backed by progressives, but said that it's "not enough" to oppose it without introducing a counterproposal. His proposals include subsidies for electric vehicles and other eco-friendly technologies and a price for carbon dioxide emissions.
Kasich said that his views on humans' impact on the environment have "evolved" since the 2016 campaign, when he said: "We don't want to destroy people's job, based on some theory that is not proven." Kasich now says, "As I see more and more evidence, especially from our government and scientists, you learn more. Let's step it up."
John Kasich believes that Americans need an energy policy that encourages more energy production from a broad base of sources. At the same time we need environmental regulations that strike the right balance between needed protection and the need for jobs.
Keep Energy Affordable And Reliable by Pursuing All Sources of Energy: Diversifying our energy supply is the best strategy for economic growth. Government policies that encourage or discourage energy from any single source are economically counterproductive.
Akron-based FirstEnergy wants an electricity rate increase for its customers to save the Davis-Besse and Perry plants, which sit along Lake Erie and produce 14% of the state's electricity. The plants generate millions in tax money for the rural towns where they're located. But like many nuclear plants around the nation, Ohio's two plants are aging, costly to operate and maintain, and face stiff competition from cheaper natural gas plants.
Kasich toured a new $800 million natural gas plant near Toledo that can produce enough electricity for 700,000 homes--more power than one of the nuclear plants can make. "There's always a tendency to slip back into yesterday. This represents tomorrow," Kasich said.
The governor said he hopes lawmakers understand that. "There's always a tendency to slip back into yesterday. This represents tomorrow," the Republican governor said.
Kasich said all forms of energy--wind, solar, coal, natural gas and nuclear--should be a part of the mix, and he added that limiting government regulation will spur investment by industries and create new jobs. There are more natural gas plants on the drawing board in Ohio, if the state legislature does not approve financial help for the nuclear plants
Somewhere in there it occurred to me that if I was passing myself off as the chairman of the committee, I ought to be duly elected, so a few friends I'd put on the "board" of the Citizens Committee on Energy shrugged their shoulders and elected me.
The Sierra Club Ohio Chapter: "We commend Gov. Kasich for vetoing the Ohio Legislature's attempt to tie our state to outdated, dirty, and expensive energy sources. The world is doubling down on wind, solar, and energy efficiency, and Ohio's robust manufacturing base is now in a better position to maximize that opportunity."
KASICH: In the state of Ohio, we have grown 347,000 jobs. Our unemployment is half of what it was. Our fracking industry, energy industry may have contributed 20,000, but if Mr. Trump understood that the real jobs come in the downstream, not in the upstream, but in the downstream. And that's where we're going to get our jobs. But Ohio is diversified.
TRUMP: John got lucky with fracking. He hit oil. That's why Ohio is doing well. And that's important for you to know.
KASICH: Ohio does have an energy industry, but we're diversified. We are one of the fastest-growing states in the country. We came back from the dead. And you know what? It works very, very well.
Last year, the Republican-controlled General Assembly enacted a two-year timeout in state law that required utilities to find at least 25 percent of their power from renewable or advanced technology sources by the year 2025. That two-year freeze is set to expire at the end of 2016, at which point the annual benchmarks that utilities must achieve would resume if the legislature doesn't act.
A special legislative panel, however, recently recommended keeping the freeze in place indefinitely. Mr. Kasich said the indefinite freeze would be "unacceptable," but he hasn't indicated what he expects to see instead.
[OnTheIssues follow-up: Gov. Kasich vetoed the indefinite freeze in 2016; the Ohio legislature then passed a compromise measure to reduce the renewable standard to 8.5% by 2022].
"We'll make sure we produce more energy from oil and gas; from nuclear; from coal that we dig, clean, and burn; alternatives and renewables, and anything else that we can find, and we'll do it responsibly," Mr. Kasich said in New Hampshire as he spelled out his plan for the first 100 days of a President Kasich administration. "We need it all, and it should come from right here," he said.
He proposed working with Canada and Mexico to ensure that North America can meet its own energy needs, and part of that plan would be approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline. "Energy freedom is a matter of national security," Mr. Kasich said. "We don't want wars when it's all about energy when we can do what we need to do in America to be energy independent."
He said he would end the ban on exporting domestic oil and gas and would end President Obama's proposed, stricter regulations on carbon emissions from coal and other fossil fuel power plants.
I'm disappointed by those who say the severance tax reform will kill the industry. That's a joke. That's a big fat joke because I've talked to them in private. And I'll tell you what, our severance tax will still be competitive with our energy-rich states. And you know what? Let's reform the severance tax so all Ohioans can have lower income taxes and we all benefit from this whole industry. That's what it should be all about.
Legislative outcome: Passed House 253-167 (Democrats: 53-149; Republicans: 199-18); Rep. Kasich voted NAY; Veto Override Failed in Senate, May 2, 2000.
OnTheIssues explanation:Yucca Mountain is the country's only long-term nuclear waste facility. A similar bill did pass in 2002, but was overturned under Obama in 2009, over radiation safety concerns for storage as well as transport. Currently, all nuclear waste is stored on-site at each facility.