GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (May 23, 2014) – Terri Lynn Land’s campaign for U. S. Senate isn’t pulling punches when it comes to her race with Rep. Gary Peters.
The two are fighting to fill the shoes of soon-to-be retired Democratic Senator Carl Levin.
FOX 17 spoke exclusively with the Land campaign Thursday night about her newest ad.
Called ‘The Job Killers,’ it targets Peters’ congressional record, specifically his support for 2009’s HB 2454, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
The energy bill featured a ‘cap & trade’ element, meaning the government could set a limit, or ‘cap’ on the total amount of greenhouse gases that can be released. It also allows companies to buy or sell permits to emit those gases.
According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill would have been ‘roughly deficit neutral’ and the ‘tax burden on households would be limited.’
The bill anticipated some job losses and provided funding for job training and compensation for workers who lost their job because of the measure.
It passed the House, but failed to advance in the Senate.
The ad also hits Peters because of the financial support he’s expectedto receive from billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer.
To date, the Peters campaign has not received any money from Steyer or his NexGen Climate Action super PAC.
FOX 17 asked the Land campaign whether it was concerned with bringing Steyer into a race after billionaires Charles and David Koch and Richard DeVos have donated to her campaign.
“He has actually mentioned out loud that he is going to do this,” said Land. “He has declared that. He said it, so we’re just addressing the facts of the situation.”
In a statement, Haley Morris, communications director for thePeters campaign, told FOX 17:
“As Secretary of State, Land made it easier for wealthy special interests to spend unlimited dollars trying to buy elections in Michigan. Now, out-of-state oil billionaires like the Koch brothers are spending millions supporting Land because she shares their anti-middle class agenda. Michiganders can’t trust Land because she will end the guaranteed benefit of Medicare, cut access to mammograms and cancer screenings and put Great Lakes at risk just to give more tax breaks to oil billionaires like the special interests boosting her campaign. Instead of denying the science behind climate change like his opponent, Gary wants to invest in the clean energy sector where Michigan can continue to lead the country in innovation and new jobs.”
