As veterans sat rotting in hospital waiting rooms across the country, the Obama Administration spent $8 million to install 7,000 dysfunctional solar panels at a VA hospital in my home state. Today, it’s being torn down to build a parking garage.
This sad tale isn’t about solar panels and parking garages—it’s about priorities. We shouldn’t sacrifice America’s heroes to the “gods of green energy.”
And when it comes to energy independence, we shouldn’t sacrifice American security and prosperity to the “gods of green energy.”
One reason I’m running for president is because I believe America needs to be self-reliant again. A country that cannot feed, fuel or fight for itself can never be truly free. Despite our vast, untapped resources, America is still 45 percent dependent on foreign oil.
President Obama’s energy policies threaten American security and prosperity. It’s time we get real.
As president, I will lift the crude oil export ban, which will generate $160 billion and create 630,000 new jobs in mining, construction and manufacturing. I’ll approve the Keystone pipeline and lift the defacto ban on natural gas exports to create another 90,000 new American jobs.
We need to get serious about American energy security and reject the stupidity and short-sightedness of this administration.
For decades, America has funded both sides of the war on terror through our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Enough is enough—it’s time we shift the global balance of power away from Russia, China and the Persian Gulf.
We have a tax code that looks like Swiss cheese and allows Washington elites to pick winners-and-losers in the energy sector.
Big government bureaucrats engage in arbitrary regulatory enforcement designed to prop-up privileged sectors and punish others. Up to 80 percent of green companies that received Department of Energy funds were run by donors to President Obama, including Solyndra.
Across America, many unplug AC in the hot summer, ration heating oil in the winter and restrict travel plans because energy and utility bills are just too high. But Obama kills new jobs and pushes ahead with policies that punish families with even higher energy costs.
We need a president who cares more about American families and seniors than chasing unicorns and charming liberals. It’s time we open federal lands for oil and gas exploration and end Obama’s moratorium that has cost Americans far too much.
For every 10-cent drop in the price of gasoline, Americans save $12 billion each year. We need leaders to frame energy issues in ways that matter to hardworking Americans.
President Obama negotiates with Iran, but he won’t negotiate with states to discuss energy issues. Texas, Alaska and so many other states, are sitting on energy opportunities, yet the central planners in this Administration say “NO.”
Hydraulic fracturing is so new, innovative and changing, it’s time we shift power back to state and local governments on natural gas and depoliticize this issue. The EPA has done enough damage and shouldn’t meddle in this arena.
The Chinese build a new coal-powered plant each week and, along with Russia, pepper in the Middle East with new nuclear technology. Meanwhile, President Obama launches a war on American coal and refuses to invest in safe, clean, American nuclear energy. We must also modernize and protect America’s energy grid from an EMP attack. Our dilapidated, dated infrastructure is an eight-track tape player in an iPod era.
I’m running for president because Washington is lost at sea. The “gods of green energy” have had their glory days, and it’s time we restore America’s security and prosperity and refuel America’s future with common sense.
Mike Huckabee is a Republican presidential candidate and the former governor of Arkansas.
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