Sen. Mary Landrieu has an excellent opportunity to gain support for her re-election bid this fall with her new title as head of the Senate’s Energy Committee. But will it help her since she was appointed to her post by President Barack Obama?
With her position, she has the power to gain favor with the nation’s oil and gas industry. She could also get some favorability in the election with conservatives who could make the difference in winning or losing her third term of office.
She is currently in a close race with Congressman Bill Cassidy, whose conservatism is popular with the majority of the voting public in Louisiana. Landrieu’s problem increases because she could also lose some of the strength from her liberal Democratic party, which may pass up on favoring her if she plunges too much into benefitting her state’s oil and gas industry with her committee assignment.
Her Democratic party wants to hold back this state’s biggest industry and job producer for fear that it will increase global warming, even after record-breaking cold weather season this year. There certainly should be ways to keep that industry from firing up the earth’s atmosphere to any dangerous degree with a little solid thinking from our experts on the national and state scenes.
Oil and gas are important minerals that can improve the way the world lives.
Landrieu did support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline bringing her heavy criticism from the left, which deplored the piping of minerals from Canada all the way to refineries along the Gulf Coast. But even with that black mark on her record, she was chosen to head the committee that leads that industry in Congress.
Hopefully, Landrieu will be able to conduct a fair-minded chairmanship of the Senate’s Energy Committee that will not allow liberals to turn thumbs down on reasonable means of directing energy production in the country. Also, she is up for election in Louisiana, which will be a major beneficiary of getting more of the minerals along the Gulf Coast for refining.
The people of our state do not want to put the world at risk to an erroneous assumption that increasing mineral production will create a dangerous climate for the world to endure. Hopefully, we can make use of our resources for our betterment without risking our earth’s future as an enjoyable home.
One of our senatorial candidates – – Cassidy a Republican or Landrieu a Democrat – – will be one of our state’s leaders in national politics in determining what is best for our people here and beyond our borders. They should aim their potential election in the direction that will benefit our country and the world in the best way possible without regard to what party they belong to.
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