New Udall ad proposes ways to lower gas prices

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall is out with a new television ad telling New Mexicans what he thinks can be done about high gas prices.

Here’s the 30-second spot:

In the ad, Udall says the first thing that must be done to lower gas prices is to “stop hedge-fund speculators from driving up the price of oil.” Then, he says, the United States must “get oil companies to build new, clean refineries in the U.S. to increase supply, or take away their tax breaks.”

“I’m running for the U.S. Senate and I approve this message because record profits for big oil companies, while we pay record prices for gas, is wrong,” Udall says at the end of the ad.

“Rising gas prices, and the additional associated costs, are crushing New Mexico citizens,” Udall campaign manager Amanda Cooper said in a news release. “Tom Udall is proposing effective solutions that could help stabilize prices and bring relief to New Mexicans right now.”

Udall’s opponent, Republican Steve Pearce, responded to the ad in a news release by saying that Udall “continues to ignore the calls coming from New Mexicans for more energy supply.”

“Instead, he pushes policies that will drive the price of gas even higher, damage our economy and cost New Mexico jobs,” Pearce said. “Not surprisingly, this is exactly the agenda of the far-left environmental extremists who oppose any increase in domestic production.”

Pearce advocates for increased drilling and increased use of nuclear energy.