State Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville) attended the governor’s seventh state of the state address on Wednesday evening. He offered the following remarks after the address:

“The governor knows how to read a room, that much is clear. Last night’s address may be the most tepid we’ve seen and a far step away from the enthusiasm we saw for coastal progressive policies during the Democrat trifecta. When you have a political future to protect like the governor, you learn how to read a room pretty quickly. It’s refreshing to see the governor repeat the solutions House Republicans have touted for years.

“A point the governor raised is the hypocrisy behind duplicative and burdensome permitting in Michigan, an issue we’ve known about since before she entered office. Throughout her tenure, agriculture, skilled trades, and professional certifications have been draped in red tape, driving up the cost to do business and taking funds out of the family budget. Today’s regulatory environment is a result of the directive her administration has given, and she does not deserve credit for this 180-degree pivot.

“The Democrat trifecta saw a drastic weakening of our energy grid after passing radical energy policies that mandate clean energy generation by year, not by the rate of technology development. Headlong commitment into unproven clean energy sources is weakening Michigan’s energy grid and leaving our communities vulnerable. We cannot transition away from traditional fuel sources until we have the energy redundancy needed to ensure the state is not open to brown and blackouts. The direction we’re on is gambling with energy security and endangering Michiganders.”