E2 Morning Roundup: Climate animates W.Va. Senate debate, two of three Alaska Senate candidates face off, Obama records radio ad for Boxer, designates 'Mount Stevens' and more

West Virginia GOP candidate: Global warming a ‘myth’

Last night’s West Virginia Senate debate was an instant classic for anyone watching how climate change and cap-and-trade are playing out on the campaign trail.

Both major party candidates seeking to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D) have bashed climate legislation, but Republican candidate John Raese went further Monday night in the battle to represent the coal-heavy state.

Raese – a businessman in a tight race with Gov. Joe Manchin (D) – put himself at the forefront of GOP candidates expressing skepticism about climate change.

“When you look at the scenario here in the state of West Virginia and really the myth, and I say myth, that there is global warming, and then the other myth that man causes that global warming, I think that really differentiates me from other candidates, certainly here at the front table today, because I don't believe in that myth,” Raese said in the debate that featured Manchin and candidates from the Mountain Party and the Constitution Party.

Manchin: Obama is ‘dead wrong’ on cap-and-trade

Manchin steered clear of climate science one way or the other but continued his assault on cap-and-trade legislation (which has collapsed in Congress but proven a useful target — literally — for Manchin in the campaign).

“I respectfully disagree with President Obama. He is dead wrong on cap-and-trade. It would be the ruin not only of our state of West Virginia, but this entire economy of this country,” said Manchin.

Manchin says endorsements give him autonomy from Obama, Dems

Manchin said Raese was disingenuous in trying to label him as being one in the same with Obama on climate, healthcare and other issues.

“How would I have the coal association, the mine workers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and state Chamber of Commerce supporting me openly ... and endorsing me if anything that we would have done in any legislation would have harmed anybody’s livelihood?” Manchin said. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.”

"I hate to inform my opponent, but Mr. Obama's name will not be on the ballot for U.S. Senate in West Virginia; it'll be me," Manchin said.

Manchin is a popular governor, but he’s in a close contest in the state that Obama lost badly in the 2008 presidential election.

“We need to mine every lump of coal we can in a balance with our economy and the environment, we need to extract our gas and oil, we need to develop our renewables, we need to do everything possible in West Virginia to be totally energy independent. That is how we are going to have a secure and a free and a strong nation,” Manchin said.



Raese: Cap-and-trade about ‘controlling manufacturing’



Raese also attacked cap-and-trade, claiming it would be “disastrous” for West Virginia and the country, and called out what he called the true agenda of its supporters.

“Cap-and-trade is not about the environment. It is about controlling manufacturing in this country,” he said.

Like Manchin, Raese is very pro-coal. “I think that what we have to do is find more coal, more accessible coal, and have the permit work in a much easier state and fashion so we can really start growing this country with its natural resources,” he said.

Alaska Senate candidates debate — without Miller

Meanwhile, Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) continued her write-in candidacy for another six-year term in a debate Monday night against Democratic challenger Scott McAdams. Republican Joe Miller – who bested Murkowski in the Republican primary in August – declined to participate at the event hosted by the Alaska Dispatch one day after an editor of the online news site was handcuffed and detained by private security at a Miller town hall. Miller’s spokesman said the Republican could not make the debate due to a long-standing scheduling conflict.

McAdams: I can help drill in ANWR

One energy item of note in Monday night’s debate actually came from McAdams, who said if the state had two Democratic U.S. senators it might be easier to convince a Democratic White House to allow for long-sought oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to The Associated Press. 

Range of topics discussed

“Other topics ranged from health care reform and Social Security (Murkowski said Congress may need to look at extending the eligibility age) to Murkowski’s initial appointment to her seat and what McAdams, the mayor of small-town Sitka, reads (the local newspaper and major U.S. dailies),” according to AP.

“Murkowski said it was difficult for her to accept her father’s appointment to his old Senate seat. She said it’s something that will follow her forever regardless of what she does, but she also said she doesn’t dwell on it. Murkowski was a state legislator when her father was elected governor in 2002 and appointed her to the Senate seat; she won it in her own right two years later.”

Mountain, icefield named for Stevens

Speaking of Alaska, President Obama Monday signed into law a bill naming the state’s tallest unnamed peak and an icefield in the state after the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The bill designates the 13,895-foot “Mount Stevens” in Denali National Park and Preserve and the separate “Ted Stevens Icefield,” respectively. It was sponsored by Murkowski and the other two members of the state’s congressional delegation — Democratic Sen. Mark Begich and GOP Rep. Don Young.

Obama records radio ad for Boxer

In another tight Senate race that may have environmental implications down the line, Obama has recorded a new radio ad for Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). The ad — in which Obama says he has stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Boxer through tough debates — only briefly mentions Boxer’s support for “clean energy” jobs. But a Boxer loss to Republican Carly Fiorina could certainly change the dynamics on the panel next Congress regardless of whether Democrats retain control.

Obama campaigns for Senate Dem leaders

The president is heading out West this week to campaign for Boxer and two other senior Senate Democrats. According to The Hill’s Sean Miller, Obama will be in Washington state Thursday morning for a “backyard town hall” with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) — the fourth-ranking Senate Democrat — and on Friday will be in Los Angeles for a fundraiser for Boxer.

Obama then quickly jets over to Las Vegas to appear at a rally for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Friday evening.

A sign of things to come?

Residents in one city in Kansas are adopting energy efficiency and other conservation measures not due to any belief in global warming (or man’s role in it) but rather a belief in “thrift, patriotism, spiritual conviction and economic prosperity,” The New York Times reports. "The fever for reducing dependence on fossil fuels has spread beyond this city of red-brick Eisenhower-era buildings to other towns on the Kansas plains,” the story notes. At the same time, “Attempts by the Obama administration to regulate greenhouse gases are highly unpopular here because of opposition to large-scale government intervention. Some are skeptical that humans might fundamentally alter a world that was created by God.”

On Tap Tuesday: Electric vehicles hold center court

Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft host an event at 10 a.m. at the Newseum on electric vehicles. The two-hour discussion features Energy Department assistant secretary David Sandalow, Ford’s Susan Cischke and Mark Duvall, electric transportation director at the Electric Power Research Institute.

On Tap Tuesday Part 2: EPA’s future discussed

The Environmental Law Institute — before presenting its annual award in the evening to the Environmental Protection Agency to mark its 40th anniversary this year — will hold a panel discussion regarding how the agency can “move forward on the problems of the 21st century using 20th century law and what key priorities for the environment, economy and society need to be advanced by better environmental law and governance.”

The panel includes current and former senior EPA officials. On the panel are EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe, former George W. Bush EPA deputy administrator Linda Fisher (now a vice president at DuPont), former Clinton EPA General Counsel Jonathan Cannon (now a law professor at the University of Virginia) and former George W. Bush EPA General Counsel Ann Klee, (now a vice president at General Electric Company).

In case you missed E2 yesterday

Our posts Monday included:

Report: BP policy ties safety to employee pay

LCV spends another $250K, closes in on record election spending

Bromwich hits ‘powerful industry voices’ on drilling permits

Western oil-and-gas drillers launch legal assault on Interior

Gore cites oil spill in fundraising for Fla. gov hopeful Sink

Environmental group claims poll on climate bill shows support for incumbent Democrats

Salazar to tout Nevada energy jobs with embattled Reid

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