Santorum continues attacking environmental policies
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Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum accused the Obama administration of devastating the economy, as he rallied voters at Froehlich's Classic Corner in Steubenville, Ohio. Students from nearby Franciscan University of Steubenville and the surrounding Tri-State area attended the event.
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STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- Rick Santorum accused the Obama administration of stifling energy development and the economy through its "radical environmental policies," as he courted coal country voters in this key Super Tuesday prize.
Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of roughly 500, swelled by students from nearby Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mr. Santorum contended that global warming was a product of "phony studies" and "political science" driven by an ideology that puts the Earth before human beings. As he did so, he blamed the media for what he claimed was misreporting of his remarks over the weekend when he said that administration polices were rooted in "a phony theology."
"I got criticized by some of our less than erudite members of the national press corps who happen to have a difficulty understanding that when you refer to someone's ideology to the point where they elevate the Earth, and they say that, 'Well, man and humanity is just one of a variety of different species on the Earth,' " he said.
In a Sunday interview on CBS's "Face the Nation," Mr. Santorum had said that he didn't intend to question President Barack Obama's faith through the "phony theology" observation, but on Monday he stuck by his contention that the administration was attempting to impose its values in service to big government.
Speaking just a few miles from the Pennsylvania congressional district he once represented, Mr. Santorum reminded the crowd of his grandfather's work as a coal miner and the economic legacy they shared in a region that rose and fell with the coal and steel industries.
"Affordable, low-cost energy really drove this country," he said. "This area of the country is rich in tradition and rich in understanding how energy drove the economy.
"We need someone who understands, who comes from the coal fields, who comes from the steel mills, who understands what average working people in America need to be able to provide for themselves and their families."
He denounced Environmental Protection Agency regulations on emissions that he said would force the closing of coal-fired power plants, and he contended that the administration was unreasonably aggressive in regulating the natural-gas fracking industry that has burgeoned in the region.
First Published February 21, 2012 12:00 am
