send to a friend | print | comment

Cap-and-trade battle rattles the 12th

Last June, John Murtha voted in favor of cap-and-trade energy legislation that barely it made through Congress by a seven-vote margin, 219 to 212. Almost a year later, longtime aide Mark Critz, who hopes to succeed the late congressman, is distancing himself from the bill as Republicans seek to hang the issue around his neck. Even as the bill remains stalled in the senate, the cap-and-trade debate is becoming a defining issue in the 12th District special election.

Five weeks before Election Day, both Critz and Republican Tim Burns are criticizing cap-and-trade, with the GOP looking for every opportunity to tie Critz to the vote his boss cast last year and to the issue in general. It got another chance this week with the news that Vice President Joe Biden will be headlining a fundraiser for Critz. The National Republican Congressional Committee blasted an e-mail to reporters Tuesday hearkening back Biden’s comment during the presidential race that “we’re not supporting clean coal.”

“Mark Critz is a Washington insider who supports radical policies that will hurt Western Pennsylvania’s economy and cost middle-class families thousands of dollars a year,” NRCC spokesman Tory Mazzola said. “As a congressional staffer Critz helped advance job-killing legislation like cap-and-trade, and now as a candidate he is standing firmly with leaders who believe that there should be ‘no coal plants here in America.’”

But Critz’s campaign is adamant that he doesn’t support the bill.

“Mark opposes cap-and-trade, plain and simple,” Critz campaign manager Mikus told pa2010.com. “Some Republicans may try to pin us down on this issue, but the truth is that we support clean coal, and we are going to fight to protect our constituents currently working in the coal industry.”

Some Democrats in moderate-to-conservative trending districts voted against the bill last year, including Jason Altmire and Kathy Dahlkemper. It’s little surprise that Burns opposes the bill, but that Critz is having to answer to Murtha’s past support for any legislation underscores the delicacy of being what some supporters have described as the “legacy candidate.”

“This is an issue where the party’s opinion does not necessarily apply,” Mikus said. “[The district] would be directly harmed by the cap-and-trade bill, and so we are going to fight against it.”

Burns campaign manager Tadd Rupp was sharply critical of the bill.

“Cap-and-trade legislation would destroy the manufacturing and energy industries in southwestern Pennsylvania,” Rupp said. “The focal point of Tim’s campaign is job-creation, and we oppose this bill because it is a job-killer.”

April 14, 2010 at 7:30 am

--John Manganaro

Tags: John Murtha, Mark Critz, PA-12, Tim Burns

comments

comments [8] | post a comment