Published: July 02, 2008 10:55 pm            

8th District hopeful Goode: Drill to ease energy crisis

Republican candidate makes stop at Terre Haute campaign headquarters to tout energy policy

TERRE HAUTE — Eighth District Congressional candidate Greg Goode says he favors drilling for oil off the coast of Alaska to ease America’s energy crisis. Goode made the policy announcement at a news conference staged Wednesday at his campaign headquarters in Terre Haute.

Goode, a Republican from Terre Haute, also said he supports the lifting of restrictions on building new oil refineries in the United States.

Goode has planned a fact-finding mission to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The self-described “social and fiscal conservative” will finance his July 15-16 trip to Alaska. He plans to accompany fellow Republican Congressional candidates Luke Puckett and Mike Sodrel, who are campaigning for the 2nd and 9th Congressional Districts, respectively.

“Now is [the] time to allow Americans to drill for American oil from American soil,” he stated in a news release issued after the event.

Goode said the trip is part of a mission to see the proposed drilling site for himself. He emphasized the importance of America ending its dependency on foreign oil.

His opponent, first-term incumbent Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Evansville, said he supports domestic drilling, but in a different fashion.

“I support domestic drilling, but we've got to be smart about it,” Ellsworth stated through an e-mail Wednesday. “A good place to start is the millions of acres of federal land and water oil companies already have under lease.”

Ellsworth also stated that he believes any candidate who promotes drilling in Alaska as a quick fix to bring down gas prices is attempting to get votes, not solutions.

Goode said he decided to campaign for the Congressional seat in August 2007, largely because of a desire to serve and make a difference.

“I think that 2008 will go down just as pivotal as 1776, as 1860, as 1941 or 1980,” Goode said in an interview after the news conference. “The challenges and the opportunities are so great for this country, and I want to be a part of it. I want to be a part of a rock-solid reliable conservative voice to represent this district.”

The way America will reach a bright future, Goode said, relies on addressing issues in a prompt and active fashion, including disaster relief.

“My priority from a committee-assignment standpoint is to seek a position on the House of Representatives transportation and infrastructure committee,” Goode said during the interview. “To fight to bring more federal gasoline tax dollars back to communities like Terre Haute and throughout Vigo County.

“We’re reminded that we need that more than ever given the recent damages by these catastrophic floods.”

On Wednesday, Goode also sought to differentiate his stance on the war in Iraq with that of his Democrat opponent.

“We are in Iraq,” Goode said. “We owe it to those men and women in uniform to be united behind their effort, to always fund them. But ultimately, I believe we need to support the American military leaders who are calling the shots in Iraq.”

Goode criticized Ellsworth’s opposition to Gen. David Petraeus’ troop surge. Goode called on Ellsworth and his “fellow armchair generals” to put their support behind military officials.

“They need to step back,” he said. “They need to fund the military and they need to empower the military, giving them the green light to do whatever it takes to win over there.”

Despite the criticism of Ellsworth, Goode said he won’t use dirty politics, adding that his opponent’s record was “fair game in a clean campaign.”

“I believe in running a clean campaign and this is nothing personal against Mr. Ellsworth,” Goode said. “It’s his voting record that I disagree with.”

DeAntae Prince can be reached at (812)231-4214 or deantae.prince@tribstar.com.

        

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