Story originally printed in the Holmen Courier or online at www.holmencourier.com
Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
Stark, Kind trade barbs on energy
Lee Newspapers
Republican Paul Stark accused U.S. Rep. Ron Kind on Wednesday of “pulling a fast one” on energy policy.
At recent listening sessions in Eau Claire and Sparta, Kind has been touting a “Buy Green to Save Green” program, encouraging people to spend their rebate checks on energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs. “That way you’ll be getting a return of that initial investment and saving money into the future for years to come, not to mention in your own way addressing the energy crisis that we’re having,” Kind, D-La Crosse, said Monday in Sparta.
Stark, a home builder from Eau Claire, did not attend either session but read a newspaper account of Friday’s session in Eau Claire.
Stark issued a statement Wednesday: “It is unbelievable that a sitting member of Congress should try and tell us that we need to buy energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs to reduce the high costs of gasoline and other fuels. We could turn off all our appliances, and we would still have high gasoline prices.”
“For me, it’s a big lie. And to me they’re pulling a fast one over the eyes of the good people of America, western Wisconsin,” Stark said in a follow-up interview.
“Touting ‘green’ policies will not give us the energy independence our growing nation requires,” Stark said. “Global warming, if it exists, is the de jour cause of many politicians like Mr. Kind and extreme environmentalists who don’t care how their cause affects our economy and the good people of Western Wisconsin.”
Kind’s spokeswoman, Anne Lupardus, said Wednesday: “It’s nonsensical that Mr. Stark draw would that conclusion. We all have a role to play in our energy future, and Rep. Kind’s ‘Buy Green Save Green’ initiative simply reminds families of the long-term benefits of investing in energy-efficient technology to lower their electric bills.”
One thing Kind and Stark do agree on is the federal government should stop buying oil for the strategic petroleum reserves.
“While I wish the Bush Administration would have done this months ago when I brought it to their attention, I am pleased Congress is taking action to fight gas prices that are now at or near $4 a gallon,” Kind said in a statement Tuesday.
“I think it makes a lot of sense right now. I agree with him,” Stark said.
While in Sparta, Kind gave qualified support for nuclear energy, saying it “has to be part of the mix” as long as “we can deal with the safety and waste issues.” He also blamed the stalled wind energy project in Monroe County on “the old ‘Nimby’ problem, not in our backyard. ... This, quite frankly, is really the rub of our energy policy right now. How are we going to produce the energy that’s acceptable to all people?”
Kind agrees to include Libertarian in debates
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind has agreed to include Libertarian Kevin Barrett in campaign debates later this year.
Barrett, a 9/11 skeptic from Lone Rock, announced his candidacy Monday in Sparta just before Kind held a listening session.
In the hallway, Kind and Barrett spoke amicably, and Barrett asked about debating. Kind replied, “I’m sure we will during the course of the campaign. Absolutely. I usually look forward to those as the year progresses.”
Barrett issued a statement later saying his respect for Kind “just went up a couple notches,” and called it a breakthrough for the “Libertarian party and the 9/11 truth movement.”
Kind’s spokeswoman, Anne Lupardus, said Wednesday that debates will be “much later” in the year and will be about all the issues and not focused on Barrett’s theories about 9/11 conspiracies.
On Wednesday, Republican Paul Stark of Eau Claire said he’d be happy to debate Kind and Barrett. “Oh, yes. The sooner the better,” he said. “Here in western Wisconsin we have a stark difference between all three candidates. In a sense that’s a good thing.”
However, Stark called Barrett “a controversial man,” and said, “As an American, as a Wisconsinite, I am offended that he will teach our young people in schools and walk around telling people that 9/11 was an inside job.”
Barrett grabbed national headlines in 2006 when he taught an elective class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison about Islamic culture and religion that included discussion of 9/11 conspiracy theories.
All stories copyright 2006 Holmen Courier and other attributed sources.