Paul Ryan Attacks Obama Energy Policies During Coal Country Stop

Belmont, OH – Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Joe Biden, and Paul Ryan are making every effort to change every last voter’s mind as elections season draws to a close, with the latter-most targeting President Obama’s energy policies during a campaign stop in coal country, reports NBC.

“One thing Belmont County can do,” Ryan said at Valley View Campgrounds on Saturday, “if you head to early voting at your Belmont board of elections the one thing you can do is elect a man named Mitt Romney, who will end this war on coal and allow us to keep these good-paying jobs.”

Stepping up the GOP ticket’s campaign in the battleground state, Ryan continued his attack on President Obama, just days after his successful second debate performance:

“Gas prices have doubled since President Obama was elected; we are losing thousands of coal jobs; we have a 100 coal plants that are scheduled to close; and thousands more jobs are on the chopping block. When you take a look at all his assault on oil and gas, he’s closing down oil and gas on our federal lands; he’s making it harder for us to get it overseas.”

Ohio is considered a, if not the, key state in the 2012 election. An Ohio Fox News poll Friday showed a tightened race, with Obama leading Romney 46 percent to 43 percent. Ryan’s Ohio speech echoed similar sentiments to an early Saturday campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“We also need to make sure we open up markets so we can make more things in America and sell them overseas. Make sure people trade fairly with us, open our markets so we can make more things in steel country and sell them all around the world. That creates good jobs.”

Ryan took specific aim in coal country at President Obama’s energy policies. Despite the president swearing that he is pro-coal in the second debate, Ryan said:

“Not only are these policies wrong, not only do these policies cost us jobs, not only do they mean that American energy dollars go to the Middle East, they are keeping us from having a boom, they are keeping us from having jobs, they are keeping us from making our pay checks stretch farther.”

The Obama campaign issued a response to these charges:

“The President has an all-of-the-above energy plan for his second term that will cut our oil imports in half by 2020 and support 600,000 natural gas jobs by the end of the decade. Mitt Romney can try to hide his true positions and policies in the final weeks of the campaign, but the truth is that he has no plan to create jobs or strengthen the middle class,” said campaign spokesman Danny Kanner in a statement.

Who do you think will win the battleground state of Ohio? Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, or incumbent President Barack Obama and Joe Biden?