Environmental groups have lined up to help elect Democrats Tom Udall and Mark Udall to the U.S. Senate in November.
So, with today’s economic situation being the top issue for voters, it’s no surprise that Republican opponents are attacking the Udall legacy as a contributing cause to the high price of gasoline.
The New York Times published an article today raising the question of whether the Udall legacy of protecting the West’s natural resources will help or hurt the two candidates in November. Tom Udall is running for Senate in
If both win, both western states will be represented entirely by Democrats in the U.S. Senate.
Their fathers, brothers Stewart Udall and Morris Udall, “used their own federal power more than a generation ago to set aside millions of acres of public land for national parks, wilderness areas and wildlife refuges,” according to The Times. “The sons embraced the family conservation ethic upon simultaneously winning House seats in 1998 and now emphasize that approach in their unusual cousinly quest for open Senate seats.”
But with gas prices rising, the question is whether conservation or the dollar will be the top concern of voters in November.
“People are angry the Udalls have worked in tandem to drive the prices up as far as they are,” Bob Schaffer, a former House member running against Mark Udall, told The Times. “They want to see us move faster on production of American resources.”
The races may be a test of whether Western voters want the comprehensive approach to energy the Udalls advocate or more drilling and production of fossil fuels, which their opponents want.
This election “is the moment for the nation to confront its energy future,” Stewart Udall told The Times. “This is now the great challenge, to create a new energy policy.”
Both Udalls are leading in the polls. But as gas prices rise, more and more Americans are supporting increased drilling in spite of arguments against it. Tom Udall’s GOP opponent, Steve Pearce, told The Times that New Mexicans are having to choose between buying gasoline and medicine in part because his opponent opposes expanded offshore drilling and increased refinery capacity.