This from the Des Moines Register yesterday. A great opportunity for letters to the editor! ************************************** Senate rivals disagree on energy policy By THOMAS BEAUMONT Register Staff Writer 10/21/2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Waukee, Ia. - Differing positions on energy policy between Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin and Republican Rep. Greg Ganske took on an unusual prominence Sunday, as the two candidates for U.S. Senate appeared at a forum sponsored by Des Moines-area Jewish organizations. The two disagreed on the best way to curb America's reliance on foreign sources of oil. Ganske favors tapping a reserve of natural gas by drilling on a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Harkin opposes drilling in the Alaskan wilderness and favors using more readily available natural gas sources. Differences on Medicare prescription drug policy and Social Security reform have marked earlier discussions between the candidates. Ganske said natural gas is a clean-burning and plentiful alternative to coal that could serve as a "transition fuel" to renewable sources. He also said drilling for the estimated 130 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be done in an environmentally sensitive way. "We're talking about a small footprint of 2,000 acres out of 18 million in that area," he said. "It would give us a 30-year cushion of natural gas." Ganske, a four-term U.S. House member from Des Moines, voted for a House measure last year to open the refuge to exploration. He also recommended building a pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 states. Harkin voted with the majority in the Senate against a measure backed by President Bush to drill in the refuge. He said Sunday he sees the need to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska, but added that there are stores of natural gas in Alaska that wouldn't require drilling in an area he called "pristine." "They want to go to ANWAR when we have more natural gas than we know what to do with," he said. "It doesn't make sense to go to ANWAR to drill for gas." Ganske said the reserve of natural gas believed to be underneath the refuge is much larger than any other reserves in Alaska. Both candidates said they support development and marketing of alternative energy sources, especially in light of potential war in the Middle East. Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, took credit for energy provisions in the farm bill signed into law this year. Ganske said he helped lead the fight in the House energy bill to ban the fuel additive MTBE, a rival to corn-based ethanol designed to make fuel burn more cleanly. Harkin also supports a ban on MTBE. The bill is now awaiting action in the Senate. The candidates made their comments on Sunday morning at the Caspe Terrace in Waukee. The forum was sponsored by Temple B'nai Jeshurun Brotherhood and Tifereth Israel Synagogue Men's Club. Ganske appeared first, making comments and answering questions for about an hour in front of about 60 people at the Waukee Jewish center. Harkin did the same an hour later. Ganske, whose latest round of ads attacks Harkin for positions "too extreme for Iowa," repeated the theme on Sunday. Harkin said the attack goes "beyond the pale." Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford, who moderated the forum, said afterward that Ganske's ad attacking Harkin as extreme suggests that the Republican's quest for moderate voters has been interrupted by an apparent need to stoke the GOP base. "He's trying to nail down elements with Republican constituents he should have nailed down a long time ago," he said. ****************************** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]