COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sen. Claire McCaskill, D., on Monday, ended her statewide energy tour in Columbia, meeting with stakeholders at the city’s municipal power plant.
On the same day, Missouri Republicans marked the end of her tour with a highly critical editorial in the Springfield News-Leader, where McCaskill visited last week.
“McCaskill’s statewide tour on energy is nothing more than an election year gimmick to cover up her longtime support for the president’s job-killing policies,” wrote David Cole, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party.
McCaskill, who made stops in Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Cape Girardeau, and mid-Missouri, said that is not at all the case.
“I get that it is an election year and that’s going to be put out there, but I’m honestly trying to do my job,” McCaskill told reporters after touring the coal plant in Columbia. “We have done a number of tours around the state throughout the five years I’ve been in the senate.
“Whenever I get some time that I can work in the state, I think it is my job to get out there and talk to MIssourians, and more importantly, to listen to Missourians,” she added.
McCaskill also took issue with Republicans’ characterization of her position on energy policy. In his editorial, Cole called McCaskill “a foot soldier in Barack Obama’s war on energy.” McCaskill said she has taken positions at odds with the White House, for example on EPA policy or her support of delaying some carbon dioxide regulations.
“They’re going to try every way they possibly can to say that Claire McCaskil is the same as Barack Obama. If President Obama was standing here he would say that I can really be a pain, because I am not a reliable vote for his administration,” McCaskill said. “I am independent.”
McCaskill said from her entire tour, she has heard the top three issues for stakeholders are energy reliability, cost effectiveness, and environmental impact.
Part of that, McCaskill said while speaking with representatives from the University of Missouri-Columbia, is maintaining funding for technological research and development.
“The people who think we should shut down federal funding for research are being terribly shortsighted ,” McCaskill said. “I don’t think scientists are the problem.”
McCaskill advocated advancements in scientific research on battery technology, which was in part funded by the Recovery Act in 2009.
McCaskill said government aide for researchers is vital for moving forward to her goal for cleaner, cheaper, and reliable energy.
“It is unrealistic to think that research is going to all happen in the private sector,” she said.