Pence talks energy, Trump at Ohio oil and gas gathering

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Vice President Mike Pence highlighted curbs in environmental regulations and called energy a “source of prosperity” during a speech in Columbus.

Pence, speaking Friday at the Ohio Oil and Gas Association annual meeting, also hailed President Donald Trump’s decision to issue an executive order to pay for building a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border. Pence said stopping drug smuggling will save lives in Ohio, a state hard hit by the opioid crisis.

Pence boasted about Trump administration energy policies to include withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, eliminating rules on hydraulic fracturing, cutting stream protections and rolling back methane regulations.

The former Republican governor from Indiana earned a standing ovation by telling the gathering: “America will never be a socialist country.”