Talk is Cheap
Talk is cheap amongst politicians. It appears as though it’s particularly cheap if it’s coming from Jason Altmire. Rep. Altmire has said that he’s pro-drilling, which I’m betting is a popular position in his district near Pittsburgh. When you compare what he hasn’t done with what he’s said, one questions his veracity. This press release by Melissa Hart does a good job questioning the man that defeated her in the 2006 midterms:
“Altmire continues to hold news conferences and issue statements purporting to support utilization of more coal, however he has failed to match his actions with his rhetoric. It has become a regular event for Altmire to pay lip service to a popular issue, only to refuse to act on it. He continues be in lock step with his Washington, D.C. leaders who oppose coal-to-liquid technology and refuse to schedule a vote on the House floor to move this technology forward to commercial use,” said Melissa Hart.
She added, “the discharge petition process is obviously not the normal route to getting an important issue to the House floor for up-or-down vote. However, Jason’s chosen Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has left few options since she continues to manipulate the voting schedule to prevent energy legislation from being considered. With Altmire’s support, she has even cancelled committee meetings to avoid votes to open new areas to exploration. Altmire should sign the discharge petitions to bring this and other energy legislation to the House floor. It’s long overdue that Altmire stand up for the best interests of his district and not San Francisco.”
It’s insulting to hear Democrats profess their so-called support for drilling for oil and mining for coal as part of an all-of-the-above energy solution.
Let’s remember that Democrats are the party that wants to save the planet. Democrats are the party that swooned when Al Gore wrote Earth in the Balance. Democrats pronounced Al Gore a visionary for his movie An Inconvenient Truth. Let’s remember this snippet from Barack Obama’s speech at the Xcel Center the night of the last primary:
…this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal…
Does this really sound like someone who’s ready to jump on the drilling bandwagon? Or does that sound more like a man who’d rather watch An Inconvenient Truth? There isn’t much difference between what Sen. Obama says and what Jason Altmire says. I suspect that’s because there isn’t a deep philosophical difference on global warming. I’ll bet that’s because both gentlemen are just saying what they think the public wants to hear.
Technorati Tags: Drilling, Melissa Hart, Jason Altmire, Barack Obama, Al Gore, Inconvenient Truth, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog