Senator John Cornyn

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Press Release
July 28, 2008

  

Noriega's Ever-Changing Energy Plan

Between ‘Jokes' and Pesky Interns Asking Tough Questions, Noriega Has Problems Keeping His Story Straight

AUSTIN , TX - Three weeks ago, after getting caught making bizarre and incoherent comments about U.S. need to drill for oil in Iraq, State Rep. Rick Noriega's campaign promised to clear up everything quickly. Rep. Noriega would soon produce his own energy plan that would settle all outstanding questions.

The plan was finally released last week. It was 12 pages long, obviously written in Washington, by authors unknown. Al Gore was the main inspiration, right down to the "all electricity should come from renewable sources within ten years" proposal -- causing one wag to dub it the "Goriega plan." Other aspects were familiar to anyone following no-energy tapdancing recently put forward by national Democrats.

But as Rep. Noriega talked energy at press events around Texas last week, the Senate candidate had trouble sticking to his script. He kept changing his views on various issues. Either he hadn't read the plan carefully, or didn't really believe it. At the end of his energy week, there were more outstanding questions about Noriega's energy views than existed a few days earlier.

Noriega has been awarded a six-figure annual salary by a large Houston energy firm ever since he became a state representative. So he should be familiar with the turf. But in Midland in early July, Noriega repeatedly claimed we should not develop U.S. energy resources, but should drill instead in Iraq. He essentially became the only political candidate anywhere advocating increased U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Noriega's campaign spokesman gamely claimed that the candidate was only joking. That explanation lasted only a few days. By last weekend, at the Netroots Nation convention, Noriega told the liberal bloggers he was serious. He really thinks we should invest in Iraq production even as he suggests we abandon the country.

Noriega had previously asserted he opposed new drilling, alternatively reasoning that "we cannot drill our way out of our energy problems" and we should save our reserves for our "children and grandchildren." By last Monday, however, his energy plan listed an important change. Noriega was now in favor of drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, well beyond legal jurisdiction of states, as long as residents of states decided that's what they wanted to do.

This shift in position brought Noriega more in line with public opinion, but it was based on an interesting principle - that states should be allowed to make their own energy development decisions. Did that principle extend to exploration in ANWR (supported by even Democratic candidates in Alaska) or in western states containing shale?

At first, Noriega agreed that it did. "I would certainly take another look at [ANWR]. I would be respectful of the folks of Alaska," he told an audience in Austin Tuesday. But signs of trouble appeared immediately. His campaign staff knows ANWR is a no-no to environmental extremists backing Democrats nationwide, and quickly insisted Noriega was again not really serious.

They were right. By last weekend, Noriega was again firmly opposed to ANWR. "I just fundamentally believe that is a treasured resource for our children and our grandchildren in the event of a national security crisis -- that once we have extended any additional crude resources in this country we put our children and our grandchildren in harm's way," he told WFAA. When pressed as to why he said he would "take another look at ANWR," he didn't say he'd misspoken. Instead, he blamed his Tuesday answer on a young intern for the Austin American-Statesman who had allegedly asked a confusing question: "Unfortunately, the way the question was posed to me by an intern was a little bit misleading."

So it goes in the ever-changing energy world of Rep. Noriega. Decide for yourself. Did an intern trip up Rick Noriega with a "misleading" question?

In San Antonio on Friday, things got even more confusing. The written energy plan nixed new nuclear plants because of alleged safety issues. But San Antonio, which is desperate for electricity, already uses production from two nuclear plants and is seriously contemplating participating in construction of three more.

Would a "Senator Noriega" use his position to block San Antonio's nuclear plans? Would he advocate shutting down the "unsafe" existing plants? Noriega again started dancing. Now he was also open to taking another look at nuclear power as well. Here's the way he transitioned into that: "Everything is on the table but as we move and we do consider the expansion of nuclear power, we've got to make sure that the people of the state of Texas are safe. We want to make sure that there is a way, using our technology, that there is perhaps a way to find a constructive use for the waste, and I believe that we have that capacity here in the state of Texas to do those things."

So - presto - what previously was impossible has evolved in a nuclear-using city to something quite possible indeed!

This week, Noriega promises additional press conferences, town hall meetings and round tables to discuss his evolving energy plan. There is an upside to his approach. If Noriega had a consistent position, those events wouldn't be newsworthy. But there might well be news at each of these events, because Rep. Noriega's energy plan changes almost every day!

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