Nonsense versus Common Sense

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Posted on March 4th, 2011 10:21 am

Are you numb to the fact that common sense, reality and logic seem to be absent from our political discourse? Is it possible that year after year the upward trend of negative, smear political campaigns and unwarranted attacks have naturally made us lukewarm to reality?

As we look at this week from energy’s perspective, here’s how we rate some recent stories:

Nonsense: Senator Bob Casey, the senior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, sided with the New York Times article that is not based in fact, but is instead and example of sensational journalism. Maybe we are naïve to think that our senator would support job creators and our unique competitive advantage – our natural resources. Nonetheless, we hope that Senator Casey soon comes home (listen to last year's radio ad below) and joins with the 100,000 plus employees in the coal and natural gas industries in Pennsylvania. It’s time for leadership, not uneducated activism from our elected officials.

Commonsense: The good news is that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett gets it. This week he rescinded two policies that were duplicated across executive departments. Of course, the environmental community was quick to decry the Corbett Administration and make claims that he is in the pocket of the natural gas industry. These groups want you to believe that industry now has a free ride with no oversight. Don’t worry though, that is far from true. Industry still must comply with hundreds of laws and regulations already on the books. Here’s to hoping people follow the governor’s lead and don’t fall trap to this nonsense.

Nonsense: Last week GenOn, the Houston, TX-based provider of wholesale electricity was sued by an environmental group in an effort to halt permitting at one of its Pennsylvania facilities. In the next few decades, wind and solar are not going to meet our energy demand so this lawsuit only means one thing -more expensive energy bills for the consumer. You might not care about higher energy costs if your organization’s sole mission is to kill good-paying energy jobs, but for us in the middle class it does matter.

The fight for common sense is not going to be quick or easy. It will take a collective effort from all of us. Tell us what you think at info@commonsense.org or visit us on facebook.

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