President Barack Obama’s energy policies lack “consistency.” His rhetoric may be all-of-the-above but that is “not what we see.”
These are critiques not from a Republican lawmaker or an outside pundit but from Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. The freshman from North Dakota fashioned herself as an independent-minded candidate as she won an upset victory in 2012. And she has carried that ethos into her second year in office, emerging as perhaps the White House’s most consistent Democratic critic on energy policy.
“I would tell you his energy policy - for lack of a better word - it lacks consistency,” Heitkamp said in an interview with The Associated Press. “What he says is not what we see in policy.”I think that IS Mr Obama's energy policy: say one thing to the nation; say another thing to his base; do nothing. In his most recent comment on the Keystone, back on February 26, 2014, he said he would make a decision in "a couple of months."
Talk is cheap. I will wait to see how she votes on energy issues when they come to the floor and her influence on Senate colleagues. She needs to take a cue from Robert Byrd's ability to add amendments to bills that were must-pass legislation. But this is encouraging, also from the linked article:
Heitkamp came directly to the Senate from the energy industry, where she worked for 12 years, including as a director of Dakota Gasification Company, a coal and natural gas company. Before that, as a state attorney general, she fought increased regulation of the state’s coal industry. She’s been “molded by my experience,” she said.
People who worked with her in North Dakota’s energy industry say that they are not surprised she has emerged as a critic of Obama.
“She definitely has her own mind,” said Mike Eggl, a vice president at Basin Electric Power Coopeative, which owns Dakota Gasfication. “She has a strong handle on the issues. When we had tours with a number of people there, she would usually jump in and help with the tour.”
Mac McLennan, the president and CEO Minnkota Power Cooperative in Grand Forks, worked with Heitkamp during her time at Dakota Gasification. He said few people understand the challenges of coal energy as well as Heitkamp.