What Would a Romney Victory Mean for the Environment?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/">Gage Skidmore</a>/Flickr; <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-1086863p1.html">Miaynata</a>/Shutterstock

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


When it comes to the planet, it’s hard to get a great sense of what Mitt Romney would actually do as president. His campaign website includes a long list of issues—Puerto Rico, Medicare, Values—but environment doesn’t merit its own section. Anything on the subject is buried under energy, where he promises to make the US an “energy superpower” and calls the Obama administration’s green energy policies “nothing short of a disaster.”

1. States would oversee fossil fuel development on federal lands. Romney’s campaign has promised that as part of his plan to “dramatically increase domestic energy production,” states “will be empowered to control all forms of energy production on all lands within their borders, excluding only those that are specifically designated off-limits.” That could include some national parks.

2. Regulations would be weakened. Romney has pledged to “take a weed whacker” to federal environmental regulations. His plan lacks specifics, but calls for “streamlining” environmental review periods for energy development plans and “allowing state reviews to satisfy federal requirements.” (See Nos. 3 and 6 for more.)

3. Coal companies would get to do pretty much whatever they want. Romney has accused the Obama administration of waging a “war on coal,” and has pledged to reverse many of the administration’s regulations. As president, he would likely approve the most extreme anti-environmental bills offered in Congress—like the “Stop the War on Coal Act,” passed in September. The bill was a grab bag for coal interests, taking away the EPA’s ability to regulate mountaintop-removal coal mining, greenhouse gas emissions, coal ash disposal, mercury and air toxins.”I like coal,” Romney said at the October 3 debate. “I’m going to make sure we’re going to be able to burn clean coal.” However, he has offered few specifics on what he would do to make coal “clean” as president. 

4. He would open new areas to drilling. Romney has pledged to open new areas to drilling off the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also wants to ramp up drilling in already-available areas.

5. The Keystone XL pipeline will be approved. Romney has said he would approve this massive proposed pipeline running from Canada to Texas “on day one.”

6. Greenhouse gas emission regulations would be halted. Romney now treats climate change as a punchline, despite the fact that he at least pretended to care about it as governor of Massachusetts. Thus, he doesn’t see a reason that the EPA should be regulating carbon dioxide emissions at all. “I exhale carbon dioxide,” he joked at an event last November. “I don’t want those guys following me around with a meter to see if I’m breathing too hard.”

7. Say good-bye to new fuel-economy rules. Romney has pledged to throw out the new miles-per-gallon standards for cars and light trucks set by the Obama administration. “Gov. Romney opposes the extreme standards that President Obama has imposed, which will limit the choices available to American families,” according to his spokeswoman.

8. No more clean-energy loans. Romney has regularly attacked the Obama administration’s tax breaks and loans for the clean-energy industry, particularly the loan to now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra. He says he will end support for electric vehicle companies and clean-tech companies as president.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate