Energy issues divide U.S. Senate candidates
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican rival Dr. Steve Sauerberg offer clear distinctions on energy policy, staking out opposing views on requiring higher mileage vehicles and oil exploration.
Last year, Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, voted to require average vehicle efficiency to reach 35 mpg by 2020, the first increase in years. Durbin, by the way, drives a Ford Escape hybrid.
His Republican opponent Sauerberg, a Willowbrook physician who drives a Lexus ES 330, said he opposes those government standards.
"I believe that consumers, not the government, should set the market," Sauerberg said, in responding to a series of energy questions put to the candidates by the Daily Herald.
Sauerberg supports increased offshore drilling and opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to drilling.
"Absolutely. I am strong supporter of increasing domestic production of oil as a short-term solution for the energy crisis we face. While not a long-term solution, expanded domestic production - through drilling safely offshore and in the Alaskan tundra - can be a bridge to long-term solutions by giving us time to develop alternative sources of energy," Sauerberg said.
Durbin opposed oil drilling in the Alaskan wildlife preserve, calling it a "unique natural area, one of our last truly undisturbed frontiers" that should be protected.
Durbin also said the oil and gas industry isn't utilizing the acres it already has access to.
"The industry should be drilling on the 68 million acres that are currently under lease but not yet in development, and we should open new areas for drilling only in areas that do not sacrifice our environmental future for the consumption of today," he said.
Asked what they've done personally to cut down on energy use, Sauerberg pointed to the compact fluorescent bulbs he and his wife have been installing in their home.
Durbin noted his hybrid vehicle, use of compact fluorescent bulbs in his Washington offices and getting recycling bins in Senate leadership offices.
Both candidates encouraged nuclear power use, noting that nearly half of Illinois' electricity comes from nuclear plants.
They seek a six-year term in the U.S. Senate. Durbin, previously a member of the U.S. House, was elected to the Senate in 1996 and re-elected in 2002. He currently serves as the Senate's assistant majority leader. Sauerberg is making his first run at elected office.
Other candidates on the ballot include Green Party nominee Kathy Cummings of Chicago, Larry Stafford, a South Beloit Libertarian, and Chad Koppie from Gilberts running for the Constitution Party of Illinois.