Environment
Is Norm's vote for sale to the highest bidder?
If there is one area where Norm's positions are blowing in the political winds, its environmental issues. Environmental issues seem to be the area where its most likely that some corporate lobbyist will bend his ear at the last minute and convince him to vote against Minnesota's best interest and to the environment's detriment.
Norm is pro-nuclear power, a big fan of coal, has carried anti-global warming legislatin for polluters, has flip-flopped on fuel economy standards now that he's in a tough reelection fight and you never know how he'll vote to protect any specific piece of land. He will use Norm-speakTM to make statements that sound pro-environment.
Report Cards
The League of Conservation Voters gave him a 26.8% rating for his tenure in the Senate, that's flunking. Conservation Minnesota gave him a 33% for 2007, but that only raises his lifetime grade to a 27%. That's still flunking. Read more about how the environmental groups grade Norm here.
- Norm criticized Paul Wellstone during the 2002 campaign for supporting higher fuel efficiency standards
- Norm votes to reduce dependence upon foreign oil
- Norm votes against increasing fuel efficiency standards
- 10/01/03 - Norm makes false choice, bartering the environment for jobs
- 6/15/05 - Norm flip flops, votes against independence from foreign oil
- 6/23/05 - Norm votes against raising fuel efficiency standards again
- 8/01/06 - Norm flip flops on fuel efficiency standards
- 10/19/06 - Norm helps utilities and lies that he's helping environment
- Norm votes to drill in ANWR
- Norm votes to expand oil drilling in Gulf of Mexico
- 2/1/07 - Norm embraces utility-backed global warming plan
- 5/14/07 - Norm likes nuclear power, insults French
- 5/29/07 - Norm co-sponsors the coal industry's global warming bill
- 6/7/07 - Letter from Norm: coal and nuclear power part of solution
- 8/9/07 - Norm thinks coal is alternative energy
- 11/19/07 - Norm dismisses students concerns about global warming
- 12/13/07 - Norm votes for Energy bill, tries to sound like an environmentalist
Norm criticized Paul Wellstone during the 2002 campaign for supporting higher fuel efficiency standards
Norm votes to reduce dependence upon foreign oil
(06/10/2003)
Reduction of Foreign Oil Dependence Amendment - voted YES
-- Back to the top --
Norm votes against increasing fuel efficiency standards
(7/29/03)
Amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2003 - Voted NO
This amendment would have increasing fuel efficiency standards to 40mpg by 2014.
Norm makes false choice, bartering the environment for jobs
(10/01/03)
Norm was willing to barter the environment for jobs back in 2003. Didn't he make the campaign pledge in 2002 to oppose drilling in ANWR?
- Hoyt Lakes, Minn. — The 1,000-megawatt Mesabi Energy Project would be the largest power plant of its kind, using what's called coal gasification technology. The process doesn't burn coal -- it turns it into a gas that fires the power plant's boilers.
Sen. Coleman has indicated he will vote for an energy bill that allows oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, if the bill also includes hundreds of millions of dollars for the new Mesabi Energy power plant.
When he campaigned for Senate last year, Coleman said he would not support oil drilling in the refuge.
(MPR)
Norm flip flops, votes against independence from foreign oil
(06/16/2005)
Reduction in Dependence on Foreign Oil - voted NO
Flip flop!
Norm votes against raising fuel efficiency standards again
(6/23/05)
Once again, Norm voted against an amendment to the Energy Bill to raise the standard to 40mpg for cars, SUVs and minivans by 2016.
Norm votes to expand oil drilling in Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 - voted YES
Bill to expand offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Norm flip flops on fuel efficiency standards
(8/01/06)
Norm has flip-flopped on fuel efficiency now that he's up for reelection.
Coleman joined several other Republicans and Democrats to propose the Fuel Economy Reform Act of 2006. Among other provisions, it requires automakers to raise their vehicle fuel standards one mile per gallon per year.
If enacted, Coleman and the others say the bill will result in saving about a half trillion gallons of gas over the next two decades.
"I now look at the impact on the economy, impact on jobs, on the high price of oil, the devastating impact it's having in so many corners of our economy on so many people," says Coleman. "So I'm one of the converted on this, and I think a number of my colleagues are as well."
(MPR)
Norm helps utilities and lies that he's helping environment
(10/19/06)
Norm wants to appear that he's deeply concerned about environmental issues. Polling indicates that it's important to Minnesota voters. However, he's been bought and paid for by the coal, oil and nuclear energy industries. Here's a classic example:
- Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) wants to be "unequivocally clear." "Our goal is to strengthen emissions standards and any assertion to the contrary is simply false," he said in a statement issued Friday in response to a Minnesota Natural Legacy Campaign (MNLC) press release he claims inaccurately stated his position on reducing the gases responsible for global warming.
At issue is Coleman's draft version of a "Clean Energy Portfolio Standard" that doesn't call for a national cap on carbon dioxide emissions--a measure 81% of Minnesotans prefer, according to a new MNLC survey--but instead aims to limit the rights of states and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish stricter criteria for regulating greenhouse gases.
...
"Our feeling is that this proposal is more along the lines of helping utilities and not so much about looking at the big picture--fighting global warming," says [Kelly] Scanlan[, director of MNLC].
Such interests are generous contributors to Coleman and the GOP: the oil and gas industry has donated four times more to Republicans than to Democrats, and Coleman has received nearly $330,000 in campaign contributions from electric utilities and the oil/gas industry since taking office (InsideEPA.com reports that St. Paul's Xcel Energy has been drawing up a similar proposal to Coleman's.)
(Eyeteeth)
Norm votes to drill in ANWR
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment voted - YES
Duh? Let's drill for oil in ANWR!
Norm embraces utility-backed global warming plan
(2/1/07)
Norm was circulating a global warming proposal. His earlier version received heavy criticism for not including carbon dioxide as a pollutant (duh?), so he's revised it. Kelly Scanlan, state director of the Minnesota Natural Legacy Campaign, said she was unimpressed with Coleman's proposal to reduce global warming:
- "Sen. Coleman is embracing a utility-backed plan that, according to an analysis by the Energy Information Administration, will still allow global warming pollution to increase by 23.1 percent from 2004 levels," she said. "Unfortunately, this is the classic congressional response of talking about solving a problem while making it worse. Minnesota deserves better. America deserves better."
Norm likes nuclear power, insults French
(5/14/07)
Norm declares that he's a fan of nuclear power and insults the French at the same time. He inserted his foot in his mouth during a speech at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute.
- 10:39--Coleman is saying he's in favor of nuclear energy. "The French are not braver than we are, but about 80% of their energy comes from nuclear energy." That's a good line--because liberal or conservative, we are all united in our hatred of the French.
He's also in favor of coal gasification, which doesn't help global warming.
--snip--
10:44--Says he's in favor of offshore oil drilling and points to Hurricane Katrina as proof that oil drilling isn't an environmental risk. Reiterates opposition to ANWR. Says there is a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Independent Democrats in favor of it.
(Minnesota Monitor, thanks to Jeffe Fecke for liveblogging the event)
Wow. That's four clear statements from Norm. We need nuclear power, the French are cowards, goal gasification is good and off shore drilling is good. How unusual. I guess he's often trying to be funny. I'm not so sure the joke works.
Norm co-sponsors the coal industry's global warming bill
(5/29/07)
This will come as a surprise to only a few, but Norm Coleman has signed on as a co-sponsor to the coal industry's global warming bill written by John McCain and Joe Lieberman. Saint Angry McWaffleCain and Party of Joe are not known for their environmentalism and this bill is really disturbing. It encourages coal gasification as the main method for reducing global warming.
- A new study has concluded that turning coal into liquid fuel yields 125% more carbon dioxide than producing diesel fuel and 66% more than gasoline. If the carbon dioxide is captured and permanently stored, liquid coal emits 20% more greenhouse gas than diesel but 11% less than conventional gasoline, according to the study to be released next week by Argonne National Laboratory, a research arm of the Energy Department.
(LATimes)“This is the snake oil of energy alternatives,” said Peter Altman, a policy analyst at the National Environmental Trust, an environmental advocacy group. “The promises are just as lofty and the substance is just as absent as the first snake oil salesmen who plied their trade in the 1800s.”
(NYTimes)
Furthermore, Norm got language included that makes it easy to weasel out of the law in the future.
Read all about Norm's efforts on behalf of the coal industry
Letter from Norm: coal and nuclear power part of solution
(6/7/07)
Jerusha Brokaw wrote to Norm expressing her concern about global warming. Norm wrote back. The letter is not at all heartening ... he thinks nuclear power and coal are part of the solution! Here the letter:
- Dear Mrs. Brokaw :
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding global climate change. I share your concern about greenhouse gas emissions and believe Congress should act to address this problem in a way that will keep energy prices affordable, and grow - rather than eliminate - jobs.
As you know, an overwhelming body of science finds that human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, have contributed to an increase in the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide by 36 percent from pre-industrial levels, factoring in to an increase in global average temperatures of almost a degree over a similar period. According to NASA, 2005 was the warmest year since readings began in 1880 - and eight of the last 10 years are among the warmest years on record. It is disturbing to think that since 1979, more than 20 percent of the polar ice cap has melted away.
I believe we need legislative solutions that will put the U.S. on a path to stabilize the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at a level that will prevent a dangerous increase in temperature. Further, we need to ensure that developing countries like China and India , whose greenhouse gas emissions growth rates are expected to be twice that of the U.S. over the next 20 years, to chart a similar course.
Addressing this issue is not a matter of choosing climate change legislation over the economy, or vice versa. I believe technologies exist today that allow us to meet and master this challenge. For example, biofuels and more efficient vehicles offer great potential for significant reductions in vehicle emissions. When it comes to utility emissions, a wide array of technologies are available, including nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, biosequestration , fuel cells, and clean coal plants that capture and store carbon emissions. Our challenge in government is to bring these technologies to bear in a way that minimizes the cost to working Americans.
I have been exploring the idea of a clean energy portfolio standard, a similar proposal to that currently being considered by the Minnesota State Legislature. The idea is to apply an inherently Minnesotan solution to a national problem - as Minnesotans know, renewable energy works. The latest draft of my proposal has been calculated to double the level of renewable energy generation by 2030 and reduce the growth of carbon dioxide emissions from the utility sector by 14.7 percent by 2030 at a negligible cost to electricity consumers. While promising, these numbers need to be strengthened, and I am studying ideas to bolster this approach.
Climate change is not a problem we can afford to leave to our children to solve. We need to find answers that can garner support from both sides of the aisle. I am working towards that goal, and I am eager to explore creative proposals, such as a clean energy portfolio standard, that can be a part of that legislative solution.
Thank you once again for contacting me. I will continue to look for innovative solutions to our environmental challenges. If I may be of further assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me again.
Sincerely,
Norm Coleman
United States Senate
Norm thinks coal is alternative energy
(8/9/07)
Now that the Senate is on its August holiday, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) is touring southwestern Minnesota. He stopped in New Ulm to talk with farmers about the farm bill that needs to be renewed by the end of September. Among several topics he discussed, he seems to think that alternative energy will be a part of the farm bill. But not just any kind of alternative energy like solar or wind.
- Coleman said all forms of alternative energy are needed and that energy is a big part of the Farm Bill.
“We need more oil refineries, nuclear plants and everything else that works. I believe in American ingenuity,” Coleman said.
(New Ulm Journal)
Read more about Norm's support for non-alternative energy
Norm dismisses students concerns about global warming
(11/09/07)
About 70 college students from 10 Minnesota colleges visited Washington DC for Power Shift Lobby Day. They met with Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar (DFL) and Norm Coleman (R). Amy was excited to meet them, Norm was not. Amy is a champion of environmental issues, Norm was condescending and dismissive. Norm is bankrolled by the coal, nuclear power and energy companies. Norm is a conservative Republican who will stand up for big business interests whenever he thinks they are threatened. Especially when their threatened by some meddling kids.
Read about Norm dismissing these students concerns about global warming
Norm votes for Energy bill, tries to sound like an environmentalist
(12/13/07)
Last June, Norm voted not once but twice for the Energy Bill. Then in December, he voted for its final passage and tried to talk it up like he had some environmentalist cred or something.
(Norm's 12/13/07 Press Release about the passage of the Energy Bill)
This is pure and utter Norm-speakTM. Norm attempts to sound like he's been such an environmentalist all these years. It's actually an election year flip flop.
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