Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer was all over the energy issue in his speech tonight, ripping on John McCain’s policies and calling for a new energy future.
“At a time when American families are struggling to keep their gas tanks full, John McCain voted 25 times against renewable energy, biofuels, solar energy. He even voted against wind energy,” said Schweitzer. “At a time when Americans should be working even harder on new sources of energy, John McCain wants more of the same.”
“He as taken more than a million from the oil and gas industries … he wants to give those oil companies another $4 billion in tax breaks,” he continued. “Four billion in tax breaks? That’s a lot of change, but not the change we need.”
He kept the one-liners coming.
“If you drilled everywhere, if you drilled in all John McCain’s backyards, even the ones he doesn’t know he has,” said Schweitzer, to thunderous applause and cheers that cut him off from finishing the line. “That single-answer proposition is a dry well.”
“There just isn’t enough oil in America — on land or offshore — to meet America’s energy needs. Barack Obama understands that the most important barrel of oil is the one you don’t use.”
He praised Obama’s plan as comprehensive, calling for investment in improving fuel efficiency and creating plug-in hybrids. He’s also a big supporter of coal, and made sure to throw in a shout-out for the industry: “Clean coal, solar … we need them all.”
