Presidential Candidates Clash Over Energy Policy During Second Debate

Thursday, Oct 18 2012

Source

Solar Industry

After a first debate that mentioned infamous solar manufacturer Solyndra but offered little substantive energy policy discussion, President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made energy issues a central topic during their second debate on Tuesday night. Solar energy garnered several specific call-outs from both candidates.

Disagreement over gasoline prices and oil companies' drilling leases led to some of the candidates' most contentious exchanges of the night. Overall, however, Romney and Obama wound up stressing similar platforms: U.S. energy independence and their support of all types of energy - both fossil fuels and renewable sources such as solar.

"[W]e can't just produce traditional sources of energy; we've also got to look to the future," Obama said, noting that his administration has "doubled clean energy production, like wind and solar and biofuels."