Political Quotes

“I ask the Senator from Kentucky--I think you described how the administration appears to not just have a war on coal but a war on hydrocarbons, a war on anything other than wind turbines and solar panels. The President said he is for all of the above. We are a big ``all of the above'' State. We have a lot of sunshine and wind. We actually produce more electricity from wind energy than any other State in the country, but it is hard to understand this ideological battle against coal and oil and gas from anywhere other than just an ideological perspective. I think the Senators have pointed out well--both the Senator from North Dakota and the Senator from Kentucky--that these are good, high- paying jobs. One of the biggest problems we have had in the country for the last 30 years has been stagnant wages. The middle-class wage earners are not seeing their wages go up. One of the surefire ways to make them go up is to develop more domestic energy, whether it is coal or whether it is oil or gas, because these are good, high-paying jobs. I can tell you not just in North Dakota, where I am sure it is hard for restaurants to find people to work there because there is so much demand in the oil and gas business, but the Permian Basin, in the Midland Odessa area, where I know the Senator from Kentucky visited many times, there is a shortage of labor, and wages skyrocketed because of the demand as a result of taking advantage of this natural resource.…”