Schuring pre-empted Boccieri gas station event with statement

The campaign of state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) preempted an event held at a Sunoco gas station Tuesday morning by opponent state Sen. John Boccieri (D-New Middletown) with the release of a statement titled, "Gimmicks Aren't Solutions."

Schuring is running against Boccieri to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula in Ohio's 16th Congressional district seat.

Boccieri announced the event last week. He was slated to appear with U.S. Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D-Ill.) at the Sunoco station to discuss the rising cost of energy and its effect on the economy. Boccieri campaign manager Ian Walton told PolitickerOH.com that Emmanuel's flight was delayed and the congressman was stuck on the tarmac, and was therefore unable to attend the event.

Schuring said in a statement that the event was evidence that Washington is broken, has lost its ability to plan and use common sense to solve problems. He said the Boccieri event was to warn of an energy crisis.

"The people of this district already know we have an energy crisis and what they want are leaders who will work to solve this problem and allow us access to our own natural resources," Schuring said. "I have been listening to what people throughout the district say about the energy crisis we face and soon I will be unveiling my energy platform. It will be results based strategy with short term objectives and long term goals."

Schuring said his plan will increase the supply of oil while decreasing the demand. He said his plan will call for offshore drilling as well as drilling in ANWAR and will propose the ramping up of the development of alternative energy such as hydro, wind, solar and nuclear power.

"It will scrutinize those who game the oil futures market and will include a foreign policy objective that will reduce the price of foreign oil," he said. "Moreover, in contrast to the Washington style political gimmicks we're seeing today, my plan will be rooted in common sense and have an immediate impact on the price at the pump."

The Boccieri camp issued a release following the event Tuesday that detailed some of his plans with regard to energy. His plan included cracking down "on oil companies and Wall Street speculators who are artificially inflating oil prices" and halting shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Boccieri's plan also called for supporting fuel-efficient vehicles and the development of fuel-cell technology at Stark State College, which is in the district. Boccieri also wants to see investment in biofuels that can be grown in the district, building local refineries to process biofuels and other new fuel sources and creating an "Apollo program" to "revolutionize our energy sources."

Former Schuring campaign manager Gavin Blair told PolitickerOH in May that Schuring has already been working with Stark State's metals institute to secure grants for developing fuel cell technology. Blair had said Schuring sees the technology as a potential saving grace with regard to job creation and energy concerns.

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