Tennessee 2006 Senate Debate: on Energy & Oil

Bob Corker: Strongly support biofuel; campaign chair is biodiesel seller

FORD: We need energy independence. We can't win a war on terror if you pay for both sides of the war at the same time. That's what we're doing. We have the capacity & ingenuity to grow our way out of these challenges. I have a lot of confidence in farmers to grow our way out of it, & in laboratories to use nuclear energy & coal in new ways. Our oil dependence is environmentally hazardous; it's a drag on the economy; and it keeps young men facing the prospect of going overseas to defend an untenable appetite for oil. I know we can break our habit and find new ways to fuel our cars & power our homes. My campaign chairman is a farmer. His campaign chairman runs a big ol' oil company.

Q: Do you support drilling in Alaska?

FORD: I do.

CORKER: I strongly support biofuel. My campaign chairman runs a retail operation, the largest seller of ethanol and biodiesel in Tennessee.

FORD: If my campaign chairman were in big oil, I'd be trying to explain it away too.

Harold Ford: Grow our way to energy independence, while drilling Alaska

FORD: We need energy independence. We can't win a war on terror if you pay for both sides of the war at the same time. That's what we're doing. We have the capacity & ingenuity to grow our way out of these challenges. I have a lot of confidence in farmers to grow our way out of it, & in laboratories to use nuclear energy & coal in new ways. Our oil dependence is environmentally hazardous; it's a drag on the economy; and it keeps young men facing the prospect of going overseas to defend an untenable appetite for oil. I know we can break our habit and find new ways to fuel our cars & power our homes. My campaign chairman is a farmer. His campaign chairman runs a big ol' oil company.

Q: Do you support drilling in Alaska?

FORD: I do.

CORKER: I strongly support biofuel. My campaign chairman runs a retail operation, the largest seller of ethanol and biodiesel in Tennessee.

FORD: If my campaign chairman were in big oil, I'd be trying to explain it away too.