American Bridge

BRIDGE BRIEFING: Romney And The Environment

Previously said Carbon Was Not A harmful Pollutant And Questioned The EXISTENCE Of Global Warming

July, 2011, Romney Said Carbon Is Not A Harmful Pollutant To Human Bodies. According to Mitt Romney says he doesn’t think carbon pollution threatens human health and would not green-light EPA climate regulations if he were in the White House. The GOP presidential candidate signaled the reversal to one of the Obama administration’s top environmental policies during a town hall meeting Thursday in Derry, N.H. This came about six weeks after he acknowledged during a campaign stop that global warming is real, a statement that won him praise from Al Gore. ‘I think we may have made a mistake,’ Romney said Thursday in response to a voter’s question about EPA regulating air pollution from coal plants under the Clean Air Act. ‘We have made a mistake is what I believe, in saying that the EPA should regulate carbon emissions. I don’t think that was the intent of the original legislation, and I don’t think carbon is a pollutant in the sense of harming our bodies.’” [Politico, 7/18/11]

BRIDGE BRIEFING: Romney And Energy

Romney Opposed Wind Energy Tax Credit Benefitting Iowan Farmers

Romney Opposed Renewing Wind Energy Tax Credits Set To Expire Despite Program’s Popularity In Iowa. According to Talking Points Memo, “The Romney campaign on Monday signaled the Republican nominee is against renewing a tax break for wind energy, a potentially dangerous position since the program is popular in the swing state of Iowa, reports the Des Moines Register. The position distinguishes Romney from President Obama who wishes to extend the tax credit and says it has saved jobs in Iowa. It also puts Romney at odds with some Iowa Republicans who support the tax break. ‘He will allow the wind credit to expire, end the stimulus boondoggles, and create a level playing field on which all sources of energy can compete on their merits,’ Shawn McCoy, a spokesman for Romney’s Iowa campaign, told the Register Monday. ‘Wind energy will thrive wherever it is economically competitive, and wherever private sector competitors with far more experience than the president believe the investment will produce results.’” [Talking Points Memo, 7/31/12]

Gov. Branstad Said Wind Energy Tax Credits Proceeded Obama And The Stimulus And Made A Difference. According to Radio Iowa, “The Romney campaign is running a TV ad in Iowa which suggests part of the 2009 economic stimulus package sent taxpayer dollars to ‘windmills from China.’ ‘I understand why they are very critical of the whole thing that was done by the Obama Administration with regard to the stimulus and some of the money that was wasted on Solyndra and some of these green energy projects didn’t make sense,’ Branstad said. ‘The tax credit, however, is a much different thing and it way proceeded Obama and it was actually something that Senator Grassley authored and has made a real difference over time.’” [Radio Iowa, 8/2/12]

Rehberg: Out Of Touch With Real Montanans

Journal Inquirer: McMahon Has Stake In Oil Pipeline Plan She Supports

On March 31, 2012, the Journal Inquirer reported:

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Linda McMahon — a champion of the Keystone oil pipeline project — owns shares worth as much as $437,000 in nine of Canada’s largest oil-sands producers and six other Canadian companies that could profit from the business of moving crude from Alberta to U.S. refineries.