The Republican running for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat said Democrats who say they want to bring American manufacturing back are not dealing with the reality of their approach. But his Democratic opponent pushed back on that claim.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance blamed Democrats’ support for green energy policies for the inflation Ohioans are dealing with now.
“I tend to think the inflation crisis is driven in the long term above all by the Biden administration’s approach to energy and of course Tim Ryan has supported them every step of the way. You cannot have a viable economy unless you have quality, low-cost energy,” Vance said.
Vance has criticized Ryan and other Democrats on Twitter for incentivizing the sales of electric powered vehicles. Vance said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has aggressively pursued a set of energy measures that have made it impossible or very hard to invest in fossil fuels right now.
"You cannot tell people to increase the supply of natural gas or gasoline when, at the same time, the (FERC) is threatening to put them out of business for doing so," Vance said.
Vance said Ohio has some of the best energy resources in the entire world and the fact that Ohio isn't tapping into those is "a real tragedy."
Vance said there needs to be more refining facilities in the U.S. and Ohio to handle domestic energy needs. He said solar panels cannot power a modern manufacturing economy, and said that’s why the Chinese are building coal power plants.
Vance's opponent this fall, Democrat Tim Ryan, has been airing ads featuring a manufacturing comeback in Ohio and saying he can make that happen. Ryan's spokeswoman, Izzi Levy, said Vance isn't being honest in the way he is portraying Ryan's policies.
"After spending weeks hiding from Ohio voters, calling Tim's push for a working-class tax cut a 'gimmick,' and digging in on his dangerous belief that women should have to stay in ‘violent’ marriages, San Francisco millionaire J.D. Vance is yet again flip-flopping on his own record and lying about Tim's work to drive down costs and invest in Ohio's energy industry," Levy said.
