(Image Source: MSNBC)

BY STEVEN HSIEH

Texas Governor Rick Perry unveiled an energy plan at a Pennsylvania steel plant Friday – a plan he says will create 1.2 million jobs.

The four-part plan calls for (A) new drilling in Alaska, the Gulf and other federal lands, (B) weakened environmental regulations, (C) a –quote “dismantling” of the EPA and (D) elimination of all subsidies for the energy industry. (Video Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Perry’s GOP rivals took to the media right away – crying copycat.

Bachmann: “I want to thank Governor Perry for endorsing my energy plan that he’s coming out with right now.”
Hammond: “Imitation is the finest form of flattery … I mean, that’s essentially taken directly out of what Newt was saying in January in Iowa.” (MSNBC)

And CNN’s Erin Burnett made some, well – more distant comparisons.

Carter: “Our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks.”
Reagan: “Fully deregulate natural gas to bring on new supplies and bring us closer to energy independence.” (CNN)

The question of originality aside – some in the media jumped to criticize the plan itself.

The New York Times didn’t exactly hide its view of the Perry Promise.  A reporter noted in a story lead that the plan…

“...resembles a wishlist for the oil and gas industry.”

And a writer for The Christian Science Monitor says – it could take ages for jobs to materialize, despite Perry’s plan to get things running in 100 days.

“…despite the power of executive action, the nation’s environmental groups have decades of experience fighting stuff like this in the courts. They might lose, but they can buy lots of time in the trying.”

But former RNC Chairman Michael Steele says – as opposed to how some in the media are portraying things, Perry isn’t putting all his eggs in one basket.

Steele: “This is the energy side of the equation.  And then there will be the manufacturing side of the equation.  And there are other aspects of our economy that will be creating jobs—”
Franken: “Wait?  When?”
Steele: “He said!  Next week in South Carolina.”
Franken: “Oh.  So we’re gonna get a little at a time.”

Finally, former Bush advisor Karl Rove says it’s nice to finally hear Perry lay out some policy proposals.  But, why not start with something a little more original?

“It was useful for governor Perry to begin to pay attention to substantive issues, and promise to lay out over a series in the next coming weeks a substantive approach.  But this was probably the weakest element of the pro-jobs plan, simply because it echoed everything everybody else already said.” (Fox News)

But Politico points out -- there are parts of Perry’s proposal that aren’t found any other candidate’s agenda.

“For example, he proposes instituting a separate court specializing in energy and environmental issues to speed up litigation. No major candidate appears to have made a similar proposal at the federal level, although various states and localities, including Vermont and Cobb County, Ga., already use such courts.”