— *** Newspaper Endorsements 2014 ***—
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Dominion Post is endorsing Rep. David McKinley in the 1st House District.
McKinley wants to fulfill his promises and finish what he has started, including cutting spending, creating jobs and saving fossil fuels.
He also decries the polarizing effect of the hyper-partisanship that exists in Congress today.
Like several of our nation’s earliest presidents, McKinley sees partisan politics as one of the greatest dangers to democracy.
During his two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he has tirelessly worked to restore and expand funding to Morgantown’s National
Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
NETL is the largest Department of Energy lab in the country and McKinley believes our best hope to find ways to burn fossil fuels cleaner.
He also rightly questions why we’re slashing funds to NETL if we’re seeking to cut carbon emissions.
McKinley admits climate change is happening — temperatures are up and ocean levels are up. However, he questions whether carbon dioxide
levels rising in the atmosphere are the culprit.
Though we cannot ignore climate change, why not put more dollars into NETL to do research, instead of putting our economy at risk, he asks.
McKinley also wants to sit down and work to shore up Social Security and revamp parts of the U.S. tax code. He also appears more interested in amending the Affordable Care Act, rather than repealing it.
McKinley does not hide his positions and is more than willing to debate them, especially energy policy. By the end of 2014, he will have
participated in more than 250 forums, tours, conferences and other public venues this year alone.
That said, even though we have chosen to endorse McKinley, we do have reservations, particularly concerning the industry-orchestrated
“war on coal” rhetoric.
We take issue with a coal industry that spends more money on public relations campaigns than it does on research and development.
The current proposal to curb carbon emissions not only provides 15 years to meet the standards, but allows each state to develop its
own individual plans to meet them.
We would hope that McKinley will line up with R&D projects, in light of his support for NETL, to find ways to burn coal cleaner, rather than
joining the chorus that sings it cannot be done.
Private research sponsored by industry, combined with NETL’s and universities, such as WVU, is how to best approach this challenge.
We also remind McKinley if he does walk the walk on bipartisanship, it also takes mire than empty rhetoric.
Follow The Dominion Post’s endorsements and news coverage here.
