"Kasich Bashes Clean Energy And Climate Action At Ohio Town Hall"

"YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — At a town hall event in Ohio’s manufacturing hub on Sunday, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich criticized Secretary of State John Kerry for traveling to Paris to fight climate change, and said clean energy was too expensive for the region.

The Ohio governor’s remarks came in response to a constituent who asked how he would “implement clean energy and green jobs” in Youngstown if elected president. The questioner noted that clean energy was important to fighting human-caused climate change, and that Kerry had recently travelled to Paris to negotiate an international deal to reduce emissions.

“I think when [Kerry] went to Paris, he should have gone there to get our allies together to fight ISIS instead,” Kasich said to applause. He added that clean energy would be too expensive to implement in the Mahoning Valley, where the manufacturing industry has suffered in recent years."

Emily Atkin reports for Climate Progress March 14, 2016.