Ohioans Want Renewable Energy, Republican State Senator Gets Sarcastic

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article dated October 13, 2007, on a poll that was taken for a group called Environment Ohio on whether Ohioans would support Ohio setting a requirement that energy suppliers get a certain percentage of their energy from renewable sources. According to the article, this was the result:

The support for renewable energy cut across political lines. For example, 71 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Democrats said they would support a renewable standard.

Support for the standard was just as high in rural areas, 80 percent; small towns, 81 percent, as in large cities, 84 percent.

By a nine-to-one margin, those surveyed said their legislator's support of a renewable energy standard would be a positive in their vote decision.

More than 90 percent said they would be willing to pay more for green energy, with more than a third saying they would be willing to pay an extra $10 per month.

Not surprisingly, a Republican State Senator, Robert Spada of North Royalton, didn't like the result. Here is a quote from the article:

After a skeptical committee member Sen. Robert Spada, a North Royalton Republican, sarcastically asked whether the poll was a survey of "your members," Bowser told the committee that Public Opinion Strategies, "the largest Republican polling firm in the nation," conducted the telephone survey.

This is very typical of how a lot of Republicans react to information that they don't want to hear. Instead of debating the merits of renewable energy, the Republican response is to try and belittle the person bringing them the information. It doesn't matter whether the issue is the environment, the Iraq War, health insurance for children, just to name a few, the response is always the same: don't debate the issue on the merits, go after the person or organization supplying the information.

If you want to know why nothing gets done on the pressing issues facing our country, the answer lies in the fact that the leaders of one of the two major political parties that run our government is comprised on people who apparently can't handle or process information they don't like.

Ohio's Senators Split Vote on Energy Bill

Ohio's two United States Senators split on the energy bill passed on Thursday, June 21, 2007, by the United States Senate. Senator Sherrod Brown voted "Yea" while Senator George Voinovich voted "Nay." The bill raises corporate average fleet mileage requirements on vehicles sold in the United States.

As this Washington Post article makes clear, the United States is behind Europe, Japan and even China in setting mileage requirements for vehicles. This is a quote from the Post article:

The United States, with current efficiency standards of 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 22.2 per gallon for SUVs and small trucks, has lagged behind the rest of the developed world. In the European Union, automakers have agreed to voluntary increases in fuel-economy standards that next year will lift the average to 44.2 miles per gallon, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. In Japan, average vehicle fuel economy tops 45 miles per gallon. China's level is in the mid-30s and projected to rise, propelled by government policy.

This is not a politically easy vote for Ohio's two United States Senators. Ohio has lost a lot of auto industry jobs over the last two decades. The United Auto Workers are an important ally of the Ohio Democratic Party and have supported Senator Brown in past elections, including the 2006 election. If political courage is defined as acting and voting for measures that either opposed by or not supported by political allies, then Senator Brown displayed political courage by his vote yesterday. Senator Voinovich? Not so much.

Congressman Regula Backs Five of Six Dem Bills in 110th Congress

Congressman Ralph Regula, (OH-R), representing the 16th Ohio Congressional District supported five of the first six Democratic bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. He supported adopting the 9-11 Commission recommendations; allowing stem-cell research; increasing the minimum wage; cutting the interest on student loans; and for negotiation with drug companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. He voted against the Democratic energy bill.

There are a couple of explanations for Regula's support of these bills. One is that Regula is a moderate to conservative Republican and found these bills philosophically compatible with his views. The other is that he is getting ready to run for re-election in 2008 and wants to make sure he goes toward the center in case he gets a viable Democratic opponent. Or, of course, his reasons for voting for these bills is a mixture of both. In any event, however, Democrats in Ohio's 16th Congressional District should not be assuming that Regula is not running in 08.