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Shepard says engineering background makes him best for energyST. ALBANS MESSENGER ARTICLEShepard says engineering background makes him best for energy July 20, 2006 BY WILSON RING Associated Press Writer COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) -- Republican U.S. House candidate Mark Shepard says his background as an engineer makes him best qualified to help guide the future energy and environmental policies of the United States. Speaking at the edge of Lake Champlain at a Mallett's Bay fishing access, Shepard, a state senator from Bennington County, said that when he was growing up in Hartland the Connecticut River was so polluted people couldn't swim in it. Now it's almost drinkable, he said. But too much government intrusion isn't the solution. "You have to have a strong economy to have good solutions. That's a must," Shepard said. "But having solutions in the environment also gives us a strong economy. So they all play together, the environment, our energy sources and the economy." He said the best way to find solutions to the nation's energy problems and clean the environment would be to eliminate government subsidies to energy producers, from huge oil companies to alternative energy technologies, like wind and solar. "I think we could have a level playing field between different energy sources by not subsidizing energy sources," Shepard said. "Let the market play it out and the people will decide," Shepard said. Shepard is seeking the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. House seat now held by independent Rep. Bernard Sanders, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Shepard will face off against Martha Rainville, the former head of the Vermont National Guard, in the September primary. The Democratic candidate is Peter Welch, the president pro tem of the state Senate. Welch laid out his own plan on Tuesday for energy and curbing greenhouse gases. He called for increased fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks. He also wants to reverse tax cuts given to oil and natural gas companies and restore royalties that had been charged to them for drilling on public land. The royalties should then be put toward developing renewable energy sources. Responding to Welch, the Rainville campaign said she supported commonsense, economically viable plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions, reduce America's oil consumption and protect the environment. She also called for the United States to join with other big energy consuming countries to coordinate technology and move away from the dependence on fossil fuels. In addition to ending subsidies, Shepard said he favored nuclear power, opposed the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases across the world and he would like to make sure oil companies pay royalties when they produce oil from public land. He would look for ways to replace fossil fuels and encourage the use of alternative energy sources such as biofuels and nuclear power. He said that science hadn't conclusively proven that global warming was caused by human activities, and he suggested that volcanic activity has contributed as much to the problem as have humans, although he emphasized he didn't know for sure. "They may have," he said when pressed by reporters. "They certainly have contributed to it. There are many, many aspects that contribute to it." |
"... many politicians talk the talk about doing something tangible about new jobs and it doesn't go much further. Sen. Shepard walked the walk." Bennington Banner State Senator Endorsement Editorial, October 29, 2004
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