2008 MA Senate Debate: on Energy & Oil

Jeff Beatty: Additional drilling has to be part of the solution

Beatty said he supports the proposed additional drilling in Alaska’s ANWR wildlife preserve; drilling off the coast of the US; and Sen. John McCain’s call for a temporary suspension of the federal 18 cents per gallon gasoline tax.

Jeff Beatty: Should have drilled ANWR 10 years ago; so drill now

A: Sure. First of all, we were out there before he came up with his proposal. Second, he was not for drilling in ANWR. But I’m not running against John McCain, I’m running against John Kerry. Contrast me to John Kerry. John Kerry doesn’t want to drill in ANWR, doesn’t want to drill off the coast. If you drill off the coast, that oil becomes available within two years. It’s supply and demand, it’s the most simple rule of economics.

John Kerry says no to ANWR--you know why? He says because it will take ten years before any of that oil comes online. I said, ‘OK, what if we had done it ten years ago? You’ve been in the Senate all this time. Did you not look down the road and see that we were going to need to be in control of our own destiny, not at the mercy of a Middle Eastern country who, whether they decided to pump more gas or not, we would have to go begging for?

Jeff Beatty: Opposed gas tax hikes; roll-back gasoline prices

He said that, in contrast, his opponent is a globe-trotter who has proposed gas tax hikes.

“He doesn’t get it,” said Mr. Beatty, who is retired from a career in the US Army, CIA and FBI and running a small security business. “He doesn’t have any contact with the lives most of us lead. I’m a proud member of the middle class.”