All forms of energy in the United States should be developed to spur job creation and economic growth, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Kelly said in Saturday's GOP address.
"Instead of forcing our workers to live with less, the president should let us use our God-given resources and talents to help Americans get back to work and make our nation the energy superpower it can be," Kelly commented, quipping that he is "offering President [Barack] Obama a lump of coal for Christmas."
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The offer of coal isn't just because Obama has been bad this year, but because the product "holds the potential for a 21st century economic revival," said Kelly.
"Coal is our most abundant and valuable resource," said Kelly, who represents a state with a large coal industry. "It lights our homes, keeps our electric bills low, and puts food on the table for countless families. More than 40,000 jobs in my state alone are tied to coal."
But the energy solutions don't stop with coal, but they involve the entire country, Kelly said.
"No other nation in the world has been blessed with such abundant, affordable, and accessible resources," he said. "And with all that God has given us, we shouldn’t be just trying to keep up with the pack...we should be leading the world."
But Obama is not willing to seize the opportunity, and in fact said he would bankrupt the coal industry — and "he's spent his presidency trying to do just that," said Kelly.
In Kelly's district in Pennsylvania alone, federal regulations have forced the shutdown of two coal-fired power plants in the past two years, and hundreds more are set to shut down nationwide.
"He’s put up so many roadblocks to American energy that all our production is coming from state and private lands," Kelly said of Obama.
And even when Democrats stopped Obama's cap-and-trade tax, the president said that tax was "'just one way of skinning the cat'" and then
the Environmental Protection Agency was told to take action, noted Kelly.
There is much that can be done to encourage energy development whether it be "stopping these regulations, expediting infrastructure, or expanding production," said Kelly, solutions that aren't just Republican but instead are "common-sense American ideas" supported by both parties.
The solutions will start again after the first of the year in the new GOP-controlled Congress, promised Kelly, including a start with a vote on the Keystone XL pipeline.
"Manufacturing things, making things, and doing it better than anyone else in the world, that’s what America’s always been about," said Kelly. "If we all pull together, we can make 2015 the year we restore our nation of builders."
But as for now, Kelly encouraged Americans to remember while celebrating Christmas all those who sacrificed their lives for freedom this year, and to "pray for those spending this holiday season away from their families and loved ones."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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