On energy, Teague says he brings best of both worlds

Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague calls himself a needed conduit between oil and gas and renewable energy in a new blog posting on the Web site of the Washington publication The Hill.

Teague, a Hobbs oilman, writes that Congress “needs someone who understands the oil and gas industry, and who is ready and able to work with alternative energy.”

“For too long, our energy policy has been dictated by extremes, none of which are willing to work together to find a comprehensive solution to the mess we’re in,” Teague wrote. “I want to change that.”

Teague pointed out that he built a company that employs more than 250 people in the oil industry. As a county commissioner, he worked to bring a nuclear enrichment facility to southeastern New Mexico. And, he claimed, as a private citizen he has “been hard at work to get solar and wind farms to southwest New Mexico.”

“Washington needs that kind of experience. Experience that knows how to space out a well, and experience that realizes one day, that well will run dry. And it needs experience that knows how to do all this while respecting the environment,” Teague wrote. “But most of all, our working families deserve it. They deserve an energy policy that will lessen our dependence on foreign oil, reduce the price at the pump and will again work for them. Until all sides come to the table, we’ll just recycle the energy crisis of the 1970s and of 2008.”

“And that’s one renewable we can’t afford,” Teague wrote.

The campaign of Teague’s Republican opponent, Ed Tinsley, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Update, Aug. 8, 9:20 a.m.

Tinsley spokesman Jim Pettit released this statement:

“Last night’s candidate forum was a missed opportunity to learn Harry Teague’s specific views on exploring for oil in ANWR, the outer continental shelf and in New Mexico,” Pettit said. “Instead, the campaign posted comments to a Capitol Hill Web site that few New Mexicans will ever see.”