Friday, July 4, 2008

Hackett On Energy

An article in today's Sun Gazette details Chris Hackett's energy proposals.

From the article, it seems Hackett is proposing four substantive policy initiatives. I will call them Hackett's "4 E's of Energy":

1) Expand America's domestic oil supply ("I am for expanding our domestic capabilities and harvesting those sources as much as possible");
2) Encourage alternative energy solutions (including wind and solar);
3) Explore additional economically driven resources like natural gas ("That is going to be a tremendous revenue for residents"); and
4) Eliminate the federal gas tax.

These are consistent with his 5th Principle to "Get America Off Foreign Oil." Hackett directly contrasted Rep. Chris Carney (who has stood in the way of immediate energy solutions) with Rep. John Peterson (who has encouraged such measures).

Hackett did address his personal investments and stated they did not pose a conflict of interest. Hackett said: "I am not beholden to anyone. I have said publicly that oil companies should pay royalties. I'm also a free-enterprise guy."

The article portrays Hackett as being in favor of a complete elimination of the federal gas tax which is much different than the gas tax holiday we've previously heard about. Recognizing that the Highway Trust Fund is only an accounting mechanism, I'm still curious what Hackett proposes for the lost federal revenue. I'm assuming he's suggesting that future funding will simply come out of the General Fund. Maybe he'll clarify this at a later date.

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