Blogging the Republican National Convention—Day 3

Day 3 of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, was one in which broad hints were dropped about future energy policy if John McCain wins the White House in November. The most obvious one came from an unexpected source: the delegates themselves.

As former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani warmed up the crowd for vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, delegates at a packed Xcel Energy Center erupted in “Drill baby, drill!” chants at the mention of energy independence. Palin herself highlighted domestic energy development as one key issue in a speech mostly meant as a personal introduction to the nation.

Noting her familiarity with the Arctic as Alaska’s governor, Palin said the North Slope has the oil and gas needed to break the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, despite evidence from the Department of Energy to the contrary.

Laying more pipelines, building more nuclear plants, burning more clean coal, and developing renewable energy sources would be a priority of the new administration, Palin said, beginning as soon as January if she and McCain take office.

We need American sources of resources,” Palin told a cheering crowd that began a second wave of “Drill baby, drill!” chants.

Earlier in the day, House Republican leadership had called a press conference at the RNC to highlight the GOP’s American Energy Act . Among other things, the act would

Open up more coastal areas and the Arctic coastal plain to oil exploration• Develop shale oil resources• Provide tax incentives to spur everything from driving fuel-efficient vehicles to making homes more energy efficient• Permanently extend tax credits for alternative energy production.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who has been a prominent figure at the RNC and is considered a rising political star, called Republicans “freedom fighters” for American energy independence.

We have energy galore in the United States, but we have a Prohibition-era mentality when it comes to American energy production,” said Bachmann, who represents a northern swath of suburbs near the Twin Cities.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said energy is “the number 1 issue” facing the nation and referred to the Energy Act as “all of the above” energy policy for its emphasis on both traditional and new energy sources. One traditional fuel Boehner highlighted was coal, calling the United States the “Saudi Arabia of coal” for its vast undeveloped reserves of this fossil fuel. Boehner’s emphasis on this traditional energy source comes at a time when battles are taking place across the nation over building new coal plants and how best to reduce carbon emissions from existing ones. He did not mention various policy remedies to reduce these emissions, such as cap-and-trade plans. Republicans generally oppose them, while Democrats support them.

Boehner also may have provided a sense of how the GOP will handle a key energy policy difference between McCain and his new running mate. McCain currently opposes drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Palin, whose husband works in the oil industry, favors it. Boehner was asked directly about the difference between the two candidates. His response suggested that Republicans are pushing McCain to reevaluate that stance. Boehner said McCain is mostly on board with the initiatives in the Energy Act and that Republicans are “working on him” to get him to 100 percent support.

Building more nuclear plants, a policy highlighted by Palin and strongly supported earlier in the campaign by McCain, also is a key part of the Energy Act. Georgia Congressman Tom Price, who represents a suburban Atlanta area, spoke to Physics Today after the press conference, laying out Republicans’ policy to fast-track construction of more nuclear plants.

Price noted that about 19 percent of the electricity the United States consumes comes from nuclear power. That compares with 77 percent from France, he said.To boost nuclear power in the United States, more plants need to be built, he said. Republicans would encourage this by

Decreasing regulation hurdles for new plants• Limiting lawsuits’ ability to slow down plant construction• Providing tax incentives to build new plants• Developing better policy and options for dealing with spent nuclear waste.

On that last, controversial issue, Price said the party is looking to leading scientists to guide policy and shape the best solution.

Price said to expect energy policy and solutions to play a critical role in the election to come. In his district, soaring gas prices have led energy policy to topple immigration as the leading issue his constituents are worried about.

Jill Jungling