Green Party blasts new Senate leadership

LONDON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A U.S. Green Party gubernatorial candidate said Thursday voters pushed the country in the wrong direction, though oil voices said it's time to seize the moment.

Midterm elections in the United States put members of the Republican Party in control of the Senate, tipping the balance of power on Capitol Hill away from the White House. Pushing pro-energy legislation, including sanctioning the Keystone XL oil pipeline, tops the agenda for the new class of lawmakers.

Howie Hawkins, who ran for governor of New York under the Green Party banner, wrote in the Thursday edition of The Guardian, a British newspaper, the voting public put the United States on the wrong path.

Hawkins said the advent of the shale era in the United States is reminiscent of the "drill, baby, drill" slogan embraced by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

The results from Tuesday's midterm, he writes, "feels like a complete victory for Palinite politics."

In response to the Senate takeover, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the new Congress could embrace a "broad new energy vision called the Architecture of Abundance, which includes plans to build a modern new energy infrastructure and increase energy efficiency."

Lawmakers like Upton say more oil and gas drilling will further stimulate the U.S. economy, while approving a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline will enhance energy security in North America.

President Barack Obama said the approval process for Keystone XL would have to wait for a Nebraska court decision on whether the governor there has the authority to approve the pipeline's route. Keystone XL is more for Canadian oil, the president argued, adding the pipeline is "one small aspect" of advances in the North American energy sector.

Before the midterm, critics argued a new Senate leadership enamored with the success of the shale oil and gas boom would put the country out of step with reports stating fossil fuels are to blame for climate change.

Executive Director of the Sierra Club Michael Brune said voices for climate action were silenced by Republican victories.

"A Congress elected by corporate polluters may think it can force a polluter agenda on this country. But, public support is solidly behind action to tackle the climate crisis," he said in a statement. "There is a growing movement of climate and clean energy voters that will be standing up to polluters and their political allies every step of the way."