HOUSTON, Texas–Texas Governor Rick Perry, in a scathing letter to President Barrack Obama, called for a job creating energy policy. Perry attacked the President stating, “Mr. President, your words promise an energy renaissance while your policies are strangling the energy industry.”
Perry charged the Obama Administration with engaging a war on coal, delaying the job creating Keystone XL pipeline and creating obstacles for oil and gas production. Citing Texas as an example of how the energy industry can help the economy, Perry said, “Texas employs a true all-of-the-above energy strategy, producing one third of the nation’s crude oil and natural gas and accounting for more than one quarter of the nation’s petroleum refining capacity. Texas produces more electricity than any other state with natural gas, goal, nuclear, wind, solar, biofuel and hydroelectric generation. “
“We’ve also installed more wind energy capacity,” Perry continued, “than any other state and all but five countries. Even as our population has grown by more than 5 million since 2000, we’ve let the U.S. energy revolution while protecting our environment and reducing harmful pollutants in the air.”
Perry is considered by many to be a contender in the 2016 Republican Presidential Primary but will likely face a tough challenge from Senator Ted Cruz, both of whom have been crisscrossing the nation and hitting all the pre-presidential-run hotspots like Iowa and New Hampshire.
The three-page letter from Gov. Perry (attached below) attacks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for strangling energy production with excessive regulation. Perry said he was deeply concerned that the EPA “behaves more like a den of activists than a repository of even-handed regulators.” He went on to cite examples of the EPA targeting coal plants leading to the closing of more than 100 plants and the elimination of 15,000 jobs. “… proposed new regulations will directly affect more than 37,000 employees,” Perry continued, “across the nation, in addition to jeopardizing the reliability of our nation’s electrical grid and increasing costs for families.”
The Texas Governor reminded President Obama of his pledges and promises to the nation to pursue an all-of-the-above energy policy and then explains how the administration’s actions take an approach in direct opposition to those goals. “Your administration has taken credit for the economic benefits of the shale boom, which has occurred largely on state and private lands,” Perry stated. “In addition, Mr. President, your administration has locked up 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf to energy exploration and production, obstructing huge potential for economic expansion and job creation.”
This is not the first strongly word letter exchanged between the two chief executives. In August, 2010, Gov. Perry attempted to hand a letter to President Obama when he greeted him at the airport in Austin, Texas. The letter was strongly critical President Obama’s lack of action on border security. Obama quickly handed the letter off to his aide, Valerie Jarrett.
Perry’s continued actions seem to be setting the stage for a presidential bid in 2016. Breitbart Texas previously reported Perry will soon be receiving a delegation of influential New Hampshire conservative activists at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin. While Texas’ economic record under Perry’s leadership is certainly an ace in his pocket, others, like Senators Cruz and Paul will be casting their hats into the ring of presidential politics as well.
Perry Letter to Obama – Energy Policy
Follow Bob Price on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX
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