Under the Dome reports both Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan support the “all of the above” energy proposal put forth by the Gang of 10.
That’s an interesting development, considering the non-answer Hagan gave Wilson County farmers the other day:
One farmer said, “Energy costs are killing all of us who are in small business,” which drew a lot of shaking heads in agreement.
The United States is paying $17 billion a year in tax incentives to the oil companies, which are making record profits, Hagan said. She said she would revoke those incentives and invest heavily in finding alternate energy sources. That would create jobs in the short term, especially for North Carolina researchers, and eventually lessen our dependence on foreign oil, she said.
Asked her opinion on off-shore drilling, Hagan said it was such a long-term process that it would be decades before it paid off.
Read the press release announcing Hagan’s support for the energy proposal and you notice something else the Dome picked up on: the way the campaign refers to Hagan as “Kay”:
Kay, who has been talking to consumers at gas station stops throughout the state since releasing her own energy plan in April, has stressed the need to increase energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy, which this plan includes. Kay believes we need a comprehensive approach to solving this energy crisis saying, “We need to end the Bush-Dole-Big Oil approach to energy policy that created our dependence on foreign oil. This plan is balanced and provides a number of comprehensive approaches that lower energy costs and reduce dependence on foreign oil.”
Kay continues to believe that Big Oil and Gas should expand production in the 68 million acres of land they currently have leased and are not using, including the 32.5 million acres offshore, before looking to open new leases offshore. However, in order to reach a bipartisan solution to this pressing problem, Kay is willing to support this bill, which does allow some expanded offshore drilling, at the discretion of individual states.
Maybe I’m hypersensitive, but I felt patronized when I read that.
