Elections have consequences.

From the curriculum put in place by the local school board, to the business district laid out by the planning commission, to the sales taxes assessed by the state legislature, to the regulations proffered by the president and his administration, we entrust our elected officials with tremendous authority on our lives and communities.

Trusting in our democracy has allowed our nation to grow, flourish and become the envy of the world.  We have the strongest economy and military in the world and we enjoy individual liberties that are but a dream for billions of people across the globe.  Yes, the United States of America is a great country yet we are far from perfect.

In their wisdom, our founding fathers established a system of free, fair and regular elections that allow us to correct our path and ensure the nation can grow and prosper.  In doing so, they gave the American people the power and responsibility to take ownership over their future.

As evidenced by nonstop media coverage, the next round of elections, although still more than 18 months away, is in full swing. Already there are more than twenty announced and potential candidates for president.   Recognizing that a president often serves for eight years, it’s important that Americans elect the man or woman who will focus on achieving progress on key national priorities while keeping his or her word.

When it comes to keeping his promise on energy policy, Americans have been stung by President Obama time and time again.  We believed candidate Obama when he said that he supported an “all-of-the-above” energy portfolio.  We even believed President Obama when, during his first State of the Union Address, he articulated his support for clean coal technologies.  And again, we believed him in the throes of his re-election effort when he added clean coal to his list of energy priorities, prominently displaying it on his campaign website.

Unfortunately, however, President Obama’s actions have failed to match his rhetoric.

Since President Obama has taken office, he has given the EPA the authority to promulgate regulations that significantly curtail the production of coal-powered electricity upon which tens of millions of Americans depend.  These regulations will have lasting consequences for our nation’s electricity reliability and drive up the cost of electricity for families and businesses.  Unlike many items in our personal budgets, the cost of electricity is a need; not a want.  We need electricity to power our homes, power our schools, power our hospitals and power our factories.  Moving forward as we look to expand our nation’s economy and deploy new emissions-free technologies like electric cars, the stress on our nation’s electricity grid will only increase.

In the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, voters will have unfettered access to presidential aspirants. In these states and in town hall events across the nation, citizens can ask their local candidates about their views on energy and how they envision our nation’s energy portfolio.

At the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, we’re committed to putting energy at the forefront of the 2016 electoral discussion.  We want voters to know exactly where candidates stand on this important issue.  So we’re hosting a series of events that will take us to six swing states over the next several months to hear directly from candidates about their plans to ensure we use our nation’s natural resources – including coal – effectively to power our economy.

It’s never too early to start educating ourselves about the candidates who want to lead our nation, because we will be entrusting them to chart our course for the future.