10 questions were asked of each aspirant including "What should the country’s energy policy look like?", (which is spotlighted below). All 10 questions can be found here.

June 02, 2012

BDN asks party candidates for Senate: Where do you stand on these 10 questions?

Taxes, federal spending, health care, marriage — these are the issues the U.S. Senate will continue to debate in coming years. Where do the candidates who seek to replace Sen. Olympia Snowe, who will retire in January, stand on these and other topics?

The BDN asked 10 questions about federal policy to the Republican and Democratic candidates on the June primary ballot for the U.S. Senate. View the answers ->

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/06/02/politics/elections/bdn-asks-p...

Richard A. Bennett

Party affiliation: R

Residence: Oxford

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

I believe we should set a goal to be energy independent on the North American continent. We have abundant sources of energy in our own country, and Canada, for example, provides a majority of the oil that Mainers consume to stay warm. I think we need to drill where it makes, but I do not support drilling off the coast of Maine like some of my opponents. I would like to see the Keystone XL pipeline built, and I would like to see us continue to take advantage of the huge natural gas deposits that we have in this country.

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L. Scott D’Amboise

Party affiliation: R

Residence: Lisbon

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

We need to get off all foreign oil and produce our own energy. Oil, natural gas, or clean coal, we have ample supplies of energy in our own country. By producing our own energy it would not only solve our energy problem but look at how many jobs it would create.

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Cynthia Ann Dill

Party affiliation: D

Residence: Cape Elizabeth

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

Energy policy should reflect values: conserve, protect the environment, rely on US and renewable resources, end ties with despots

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Matthew G. Dunlap

Party affiliation: D

Residence: Old Town

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

We should focus on efficiency.

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Jon Hinck

Party affiliation: D

Residence: Portland

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

I believe the priority for use of public resources in energy should be toward maximizing energy efficiency. Efficiency is the cheapest and cleanest source of energy. We want to get the maximum about of work out of every unit of energy. In Maine, all buildings should be weatherized, tight and warm. Industrial processes and commercial operations should be modernized to operate with hyper efficiency.

Government policy should also require that all energy generation u201cinternalizeu201d its costs. The costs of each energy generation facility should not be passed on to close neighbors of the rest of planet. The 1,100 coal-fired power plants upwind of Maine should not be permitted to send airborne mercury that falls on us. Carbon emissions need to be controlled. Oil spills have to be prevented. Deadly waste should not be left for hundreds of future generations to safeguard. Power plants must insure themselves against the risk of accidents (this would require repeal of the Price Anderson Act that has the taxpayer insuring nuclear power plants in the event of a nuclear catastrophe.) Harm to human health, wildlife and the natural environment needs to be avoided.

If policies require cost internalization, the government can end market distorting subsidies. In this energy landscape, cleaner natural gas would be the key u201cbridging fuel,u201d as we transition toward hyper-efficiency and genuinely clean and renewable power resources. Offshore wind power, solar power, tidal energy, biomass, and other renewable sources will not only compete favorably in energy markets but will more rapidly come to power our economy.

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Debra D. Plowman

Party affiliation: R

Residence: Hampden

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

First, our energy policy should not be based on subsidies to shore up energy sources that cannot sustain themselves. In fact, the energy actually used to produce “sustainable” energy sources such as solar panels, windmills, etc. should be factored into whether the end product “saves” energy. Our country’s manufacturing base and source of electricity was originally powered by hydro – a clean, renewable, inexpensive source that made our country the leader in manufacturing. States and indeed other countries who still rely on this source of power enjoy cheap energy, stronger economies and less pollution.

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Bruce L. Poliquin

Party affiliation: R

Residence: Georgetown

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

Allow full development of domestic energy resources: increase supply and lower gas prices. Many jobs created; improved national security.

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Justin Benjamin Pollard

Party affiliation: D

Residence: Portland

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

Energy policy should focus on conservation, support renewable energy, especially solar, and redesign transport with rail and bicycle use.

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William J. Schneider

Party affiliation: R

Residence: Durham

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

The price of gas has doubled under the Obama Administration because the environmental lobby would rather see $4.00 gas than expand domestic exploration and supply. We need a comprehensive energy policy that develops domestic supply, invests in our energy infrastructure, and relies on the market to pick winners and losers.

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Charles E. Summers

Party affiliation: R

Residence: Scarborough

Races:

What should the country’s energy policy look like?

We should be drilling and exploiting our country's own natural resources: gas, oil, coal and nuclear. Our country's energy policy is a matter of the economic and national security. We have a responsibility to fully exploit our own natural resources and end our costly dependency on foreign resources.

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