Obama, Romney Differ on Energy Policy

October 27, 2012

President Obama and Governor Romney agree that the U.S. is too dependent on foreign oil. But their views differ significantly on how to reduce or even end that dependence to make the country energy self-sufficient.

President Obama has been a champion of expanding renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, which he says hold great promise.

Mitt Romney is a proponent of raising production levels of America's own fossil fuels, including coal, which the U.S. has in abundance.

The Center for Climate and Energy solutions published a voter guide to the candidates' energy policy positions.

"I think Governor Romney has focused more on supply, particularly of conventional fuels such as oil and coal," notes Manik Roy, vice president for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "President Obama, while I think he's also interested in supply - we saw the back and forth in the second debate on drilling - President Obama in addition has focused on clean energy technologies and reducing demand for oil."

The two candidates debated whose policy was more effective in reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. The protection and creation of jobs was another key issue, in a slow economic recovery with unemployment near eight percent.

"We've also got to look to the future," said Obama at the November 17 debate. "That's why we doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars. That means that in the middle of the next decade, any car you buy, you're going to end up going twice as far on a gallon of gas. That's why we've doubled clean energy production like wind and solar and biofuels. And all these things have contributed to us lowering our oil imports to the lowest levels in 16 years. We've got potentially 600,000 jobs and a hundred years' worth of energy right beneath our feet with natural gas. And we can do it in an environmentally sound way."