As a voter who is concerned about environmental issues, I want to know how each candidate plans to address problems such as increasing drought, alternative energy sources, America's impact on global warming, etc. I'm exploring Obama and Romney's sites and I keep asking myself, "Where are the environmental platforms?" The tab for "Energy" under each candidate's list of issues is the closest option. The fact that each candidate does not directly address the pressing environmental issues we currently face tells me two things: a.) to them, environmental issues fall under the same umbrella as their energy platforms, and b.) making a platform to amend/prevent further damage we have done to the planet would cost them the election. Energy is only a piece of a larger environmental puzzle we currently face today. The lack of a comprehensive platform on both sides is very disconcerting for America's future, especially considering that our lifestyle has the largest environmental impact on the rest of the world.
Aside from Romney and Obama's failure to mention environmental issues not related to energy, both platforms share some similarities. Both energy plans emphasize America's abundance in carbon-based resources and make it clear that we should be getting as much from them as we can. The measures they want to take to use these resources will hopefully end up in what they both refer to as "energy independence". They also claim that both plans will result in more jobs for Americans. Job creation seems to be the bottom line of each energy platform since the economy has taken the stage as the number one issue voters are concerned about in this election.
While both candidates discuss oil and natural gas in their platforms, they both touch on other energy sources in different ways. For example, Obama's plan seeks to increase wind and solar production while Romney claims that these sources have, "failed to become economically viable." Romney on the other hand seems to be pushing future investment and deregulation of nuclear energy sources, when Obama doesn't mention this type of energy at all in his platform. I had expected both candidates to mention the coal industry, but to my surprise, Romney only pointed out how the Obama administration is anti-coal and doesn't discuss it any further. Obama makes sure to show how he has increased investment in "clean coal" as opposed to just regular coal mining. I'm a bit of a clean coal skeptic, so as far as I'm concerned, neither candidate shows a strong view on what direction the coal industry should take.
Environmental issues tend to be the empty promises candidates make that will occur within a certain time frame and never happen. This is evident in the language shown in Obama's platform such as, "development of our near 100-year supply of natural gas, which could support more than 600,000 new jobs by the end of the decade" just doesn't seem firm, and I really have a hard time believing that many new positions in the natural gas industry could be created in a decade. The same goes for Romney in his goal for "North American energy independence by 2020." This all depends on how our relationships with the major oil producers continues to evolve as well as America's appetite for oil within the next ten years. Oil independence in eight years seems to be a huge stretch, and is most likely not happening any time soon.
In both platforms, these grand goals need to be downsized. I know the candidates are doing it just to win votes, but realistically, energy independence by 2020 and a surge of "green" jobs within the next few years seem to be exaggerated claims. I would also appreciate a broader environmental platform, which can include other topics such as pollution and global warming, which are closely related to points brought up in these energy proposals.
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