Kennedy launches attack on Landrieu
Print
Email
Save
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
WASHINGTON — State Treasurer John Kennedy launched his first major attack against incumbent U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and it is on her home turf issue: oil drilling.
The Republican challenger accused the Louisiana Democrat of failing to support two measures that would have increased national oil production at a time of $4 a gallon gasoline.
On Friday, Kennedy criticized Landrieu for joining fellow Democrats in blocking legislation that, in part, would have lifted a congressional moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
“Mary Landrieu puts party politics ahead of doing the right thing for the people,” Kennedy said in a statement. “It’s the old Washington game of saying one thing and doing another.”
Landrieu countered by noting that the moratorium provision, offered by U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., would have killed the real intent of the legislation, which was to rein in Wall Street speculators believed to have been driving up oil prices.
Senators from states including North Carolina, New Jersey and Florida oppose new drilling off their coasts and likely would have voted against the measure, Landrieu said.
“You have to be realistic both of the effectiveness of the legislation and the legislation’s ability to pass,” Landrieu spokesman Adam Sharp said.
Kennedy also hit Landrieu for helping to block legislation that would have opened Western states to oil production from shale. An estimated 800 million barrels of oil could be produced from the sealed rock.
Landrieu cast a key committee vote earlier this year against lifting a moratorium on oil shale leases at the request of U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. Salazar, who wasn’t on the energy committee, asked for Landrieu’s opposing vote in order to have the matter brought up in the full Senate.
“What good is having Mary Landrieu’s ‘clout’ in Washington if she can’t persuade even one, single Democrat to stand up for families hurt by skyrocketing prices at the pump?” Kennedy spokesman Leonardo Alcivar said in a statement.
Landrieu noted that Salazar was one of 17 Democrats who backed Louisiana in 2006 when she pushed legislation to open 8.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and natural gas drilling. The law resulted in Louisiana getting a share in billions in royalties.
Landrieu also questioned whether the technology exists to tap the oil shale, which requires extreme heat. If the legislation were passed tomorrow, nothing could be harvested for years, Landrieu said in a statement.
“The short-term truth is we will skim more oil from the surface of the Mississippi River this week than Colorado shale will produce over the next several years,” Landrieu said.
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
