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Rubio talks energy at Salem plant
By Kalea Hall
GOSHEN
Dave and Carol Julian of Salem wanted to hear top-contending Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in person.
When they watched the Republican debate, something about Rubio impressed them.
“I like his exuberance,” Dave said.
“He held his own” in the debate, Carol said. “He got right to the point.”
When the Julians heard Rubio would speak at BOC Water Hydraulics here Friday afternoon, they made sure they would be there to hear what he had to say about energy – an important industry that affects every industry and an industry that many businesses want to see change.
Rubio, 44, of Florida, arrived at BOC Water Hydraulics at 12024 Salem-Warren Road about 2:30 p.m. for a tour with Todd Olson, company president.
Olson’s father, Don, started the water-hydraulics company in 1993. The company, with about 50 employees, manufactures green products such as high-pressure water pumps and stainless-steel reservoirs for a variety of industries across the world. BOC works with customers in oil and gas and in heavy metals.
“We are all interconnected,” Olson said. “We benefit significantly by a strong, pre-planned national energy policy, and we desperately think we need one.”
A dramatic drop in the cost of oil has hit businesses in energy. On Oct. 15, a barrel of oil was $46.38, down more than $35 from a year earlier, according the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Baker Hughes, a supplier of oil-field services, products, technology and systems, reported the September U.S. oil rig count at 848, down 35 from August and down 1,082 from the 1,930 counted in September 2014.
A major concern of Olson’s is international competition and trade policies.
“The turndown in oil and gas has flowed through this level,” Olson said. “We need some vision.”
In his speech to about 250 inside BOC’s facility, Rubio laid out his vision for energy to about 250 people.
Rubio believes the “21st-century America has the greatest energy potential of any nation in human history.”
But he sees today’s “outdated” policies holding back energy production.
“I will cripple the regulatory power of all federal agencies by instituting a National Regulatory Budget, which will force them to limit the amount new rules can cost the private sector,” he said.
Rubio also would like to see the permitting process for oil and gas pipelines simplified, and he would support hydraulic fracturing. If elected, Rubio says he immediately would approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, lift the ban on exports of American crude oil and expedite exports of natural gas to U.S. allies.
The Ohio Democratic Party calls Rubio’s proposals “nothing but one big giveaway to big oil at the expense of hard-working Americans.”
After hearing Rubio’s speech, the Julians were both impressed, however.
“One of the things we have to do is regain the strength in America, and we have to be able to fight on a level playing field when it comes to the economy,” Dave said.