Hastings backs offshore drilling in the Arctic as a stopgap move

ELLENSBURG -- U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings wants to lift a moratorium on oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but only as a way to buy time until other sources of energy are more practical.

Nuclear, wind, solar and water power all have to be part of the long-term mix, he said Monday afternoon during a Kiwanis luncheon at the Quality Inn in Ellensburg. But until then, it would be "silly" not to use the crude oil available to us, the 67-year-old Pasco Republican said.

"We need to start right now," he told the gathering of about 30. "But the idea is to become energy independent."

Hastings, who is running for re-election against 50-year-old Democrat George Fearing of Kennewick and Republican Gordon Allen Pross, 53, of Ellensburg, has made energy policy a key component of his campaign.

In an interview after the speech, he dismissed environmental concerns about offshore drilling, pointing to the thousands of offshore crude oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico that survived hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"Do you know how many of those rigs ruptured?" he said. "Zero."

That said, Hastings acknowledged that other sources of energy will be needed eventually.

"We don't know how much oil is in the world, but we know that it's finite," he said.

During his speech, Hastings touted Central Washington's capacity for wind, water and nuclear energy.

This despite the fact he argued against the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council's decision to permit the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project. Kittitas County denied the project, which would include 65 wind turbines generating 100 to 150 megawatts, in 2005. But, on the council's recommendation, Gov. Chris Gregoire overruled the county in 2007 and gave the project the go-ahead.

Hastings has said that his position in that matter was not against wind power but in favor of local control. The governor had overruled a Kittitas County decision, potentially setting a bad precedent, Hastings said.

Fearing, Hastings' opponent in this fall's election, said he too supports wind, water, solar and nuclear power. He does not, however, support offshore drilling -- at least not now.

"We have plenty of other places on-shore to drill, and we need to force the oil companies to drill there first," Fearing said in a telephone interview Monday.

Hastings, first elected to his Congressional seat in 1994, maintains a huge fundraising lead over Fearing, according to the Federal Elections Commission. Through July 30, Hastings has raised about $512,000 and has about $342,000 on hand. Fearing has raised about $211,000 but has only about $48,000 of that still on hand.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct erroneous information that appeared in the originally published version.