During Thursday’s debate between U.S. Senate contenders, energy issues, in their various incarnations, came up more than once.
Incumbent Republican Senator John Barrasso said in Wyoming – and the U.S. – natural resources are important to protect, but they should also be taken advantage of.
“We ought to be exploring for more American energy on federal land, in Alaska and in the Gulf. I think energy security is part of our national security, so I would’ve approved the Keystone XL Pipeline to bring energy in from Canada that the President has blocked. All of us want to make energy as clean as we can as fast as we can but we want to do in ways that doesn’t raise the cost for American families.”
Democratic candidate Tim Chesnut agreed that oil and gas are an essential part of the equation, but he also emphasized that looking into the future was just as important.
“We’re a very smart people and we’re going to have to be looking at changing the way we’re doing energy in the future. We’re going to be coming up with energy cells and things like that may make fossil fuel energy obsolete in the next century. So if we at Wyoming aren’t at the forefront of looking at new technologies, we’re going to be left behind here.”
Along with Country party candidate Joel Otto, the three contenders also discussed climate change, the military budget, the Affordable Care Act, and Social Security, among other issues.
