The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a pristine piece of land.  The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a barren piece of land full of mosquitoes and other bothersome bugs.  Which statement is true?   Both of them are.  Opponents of expanded domestic drilling use only the first statement to jin up support for their side.  What they don’t tell you is that Area 10-02 in the Coastal Plain north region of ANWR is described by the second statement while the first statement only refers to the southern part of the Refuge.  The oil is located in the northern Coastal Plain area where mosquitoes abound.

Don’t believe me?  Check out the below video.  Luke Puckett and his trusty aide Jack Flock were trying to do a quick YouTube shot for the folks back home when they had to cut it short thanks to a swarm of mosquitoes that was trying to eat them alive.  

 

It is Joe Donnelly’s record on energy issues that is under scrutiny, but as you look at that record it becomes quite obvious that consistent votes against opening up domestic oil resources comprise a record of lethargy on an issue many Americans are concerned about.  The Luke Puckettcampaign issued a hard-hitting press release today drawing attention to Donnelly’s consistent record (his rhetoric changes, but his record doesn’t) of anti-domestic drilling votes.

Here is the Release:

Fairbanks, AK-Today Congressional candidate Luke Puckett declared that he is the only candidate running for Congress in Indiana’s 2nd District who supports lowering gas prices for Hoosiers by expanding access to large domestic oil reserves like the ones in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil shale deposits of Colorado and Utah.

“From January of 2007 to today, Joe Donnelly has never voted for a bill that would expand domestic oil exploration and drilling. I find it unconscionable that Mr. Donnelly would repeatedly vote to block our access to domestic oil reserves and effectively vote to hold Hoosiers hostage to foreign oil and high gas prices,” Puckett remarked.

Puckett believes that Joe Donnelly has failed to be a leader in Washington on the single biggest issue people across the district care about. The rising gas prices affect everyone from blue collar workers to white collar business owners, from soccer moms to farmers. These people were not helped when Donnelly chose to co-sponsor an obscure energy bill that will probably never see a floor vote while opposing a floor debate and vote on an energy bill that was co-sponsored by 177 members of Congress.

According to Puckett “Co-sponsoring an obscure energy bill while voting time after time against increased domestic drilling hardly qualifies as leadership. If Joe Donnelly were a leader he wouldn’t have waited until gas prices were $4 dollars a gallon and jobs were being lost before he took action. These gas prices are not new and they deserved meaningful action a long time ago.”

For Puckett, Donnelly’s vehement refusal to even sign a simple non-partisan petition stating that we should drill for domestic oil right now in order to lower gas prices illustrates how out-of-touch he is with the district. “Everywhere I go I find people talking about high gas prices and every time our campaign offers them the American Solutions ‘Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.’ petition they jump at the opportunity to sign it,” said Puckett.

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Footnote: In 2007 Joe Donnelly voted four times against increased domestic drilling. These votes were, in order, Roll Call 40, Roll Call 553, Roll Call 578 and Roll Call 1171. They may be accessed at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/index.asp

Ten years ago we were told that it would take ten years to get the oil out of ANWR and onto the market. Today we’re told that drilling for oil in ANWR is not really much of a solution because-you probably guessed it-it will take ten years for that oil to reach the market. This argument is rather handy for opponents of domestic drilling because it allows them to eliminate a solution that they don’t like simply by inserting an amount of time between the discussion at hand at when the proposed solution is expected to take affect. In part they are relying on you to forget ten years later when the problem is still around that you mentioned the same solution before-ten years ago.

But does it really take ten years before that oil can reach us and provide us with the relief that we need? Luke Puckett wanted to find out, and here’s what he learned:



Looks like the ten year argument was another one of those myths that seem to cloud the debate about whether or not we should drill for domestic oil.  Hopefully, however, this campaign and Luke Puckett can help clear away some of those myths.

Standing at the airport waiting to board his flight to Alaska, Luke took some time to reiterate why he’s on this trip and why Joe Donnelly isn’t the right choice for Hoosiers tired of high gas prices.  Time after time Donnelly has voted against domestic drilling.  Time after time Donnelly has effectively voted to keep Hoosiers hostage to Middle Eastern oil.  We simply can’t trust Joe Donnelly to put politics aside and America first on the issue of lower gas prices and real energy independence.

This week Luke is in Alaska leading a group of congressional candidates from around the nation on a trip to the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The purpose of the trip is to draw attention to the fact that we need to drill for domestic oil if we are going to lower gas prices and ease the burden imposed on many Americans by our nation’s over-reliance on foreign oil.  Throughout the trip Luke is doing short YouTube videos talking about where he is at, what he is doing and what he is finding out as he talks to energy experts, environmental experts, and average Alaskans. 

If we can replace Joe Donnelly’s anti-domestic drilling vote in Congress with Luke Puckett’s pro-drilling vote, we’ll begin to see a shift in how Washington approaches the issue of high gas prices.  Second District Hoosiers need somebody who will talk about real solutions and not simply repeat the latest party talking points.

By: Luke Puckett

Hoosiers are rightfully frustrated as they pay $4 or more for a gallon of gas. Every time they fill up they are painfully reminded of our nation’s excessive dependence on foreign oil. For decades now we’ve heard a lot of talk about energy independence. In 1970 we imported 12% of our annual oil consumption. Last year we imported 66% of oil that we use to fuel our cars, our homes, and our transportation industry.

The rising price of gas should come as no surprise to our leaders. Since 2003 the price of oil has climbed higher and higher and recently it hit a record of $138 a barrel. You can be sure that right now there are some very happy oil producers in the Middle East.

Fuel and oil prices have risen in part because current oil production levels cannot keep pace with a growing global demand. Countries such as India and China are going through a growth spurt that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

So does all of this mean Americans have to get used to paying higher fuel prices? No! The good news is that we can begin to lower the price at the pump by doing several things. First, we need to rid ourselves of excessive government regulations that hold us hostage to foreign oil. Government regulations stand between us and lower gas prices and energy independence.

From the arctic tundra of ANWR to the cold dark depths of the Gulf Coast seabed and the outer continental shelf, billions upon billions of barrels of oil wait to be tapped into. Why is that we aren’t working to extract the roughly 1.2 trillion barrels of oil in the shale of Colorado and Utah? Why is that the Chinese can drill in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to their Cuban friends but the United States can’t drill in that same Gulf?

The answer is energy companies are prohibited by federal law from tapping into some of our most promising oil fields. Washington has told these companies that they cannot use environmentally friendly drilling technology to bring this oil to the surface and onto the American market. Just last year Rep. Joe Donnelly voted at least 4 times to prevent us from drilling for domestic oil.

In addition to increasing domestic oil production we need to allow for the construction of new oil refineries. It’s been over 30 years since a new refinery was built in our country and if we merely allow for more domestic oil drilling without allowing for new refineries to be built, a bottleneck will be created and Americans will still be paying high gas prices. Congress and the federal government must act to allow more refineries to be built and existing refineries to be expanded. We don’t need the kind of politics that led Rep. Joe Donnelly to vote last July to condemn the expansion of a Midwest oil refinery.

The second thing that we must do to bring down high gas prices is focus on long term alternatives to oil. While our nation has immense oil reserves, we must keep the future in mind and begin working today to provide long term energy solutions. In Germany they have successfully used a process that takes coal and turns it into liquid fuel that can be used by vehicles. We must make sure that American companies are free to forge ahead in the area of coal-to-liquid technology.

Renewable energy sources such as ethanol and fuels made from organic matter must also be a part of our nation’s long-term energy plan. While these fuels still need to be perfected before they are ready to replace our current petroleum fuels, now is the time for the research and development to take place.

If I am elected to be the next Congressman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District, I will make energy independence one of my top priorities. It is time for us to be free to drill for our own oil, lower our gas prices, and begin research and development projects that will give us a future fueled by renewable energy resources.

Luke Puckett is the Republican candidate for Congress in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

Last Tuesday was a tremendous day for the campaign as Luke won the primary election to be the Republican nominee to become the next congressman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.  Below is a clip, courtesy of WSBT-TV, of the opening part of Luke’s acceptance speech.  This speech was given at the St. Joseph County GOP headquarters on the south side of South Bend.

Thank you to everyone who made our victory possible. We appreciate your efforts and look forward to winning in the fall with your help!

Note: Luke was asked by the Pharos-Tribune to write a brief op-ed about why he was running for Congress. Below is what he wrote.

By: Luke Puckett

My name is Luke Puckett and I’m running for Congress in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District. As a small businessman, father, and citizen I’m running for Congress because I believe that we need common sense solutions to the challenges facing our country. The status quo in Washington needs to change and the actions of this Congress offer us no hope that real change is imminent.

(Read the rest below the fold) (more…)

On Friday, April 25th, our campaign became the first campaign in Congressional District 2 to launch TV advertisments for the 2008 cycle. You can view the ad, titled “Coming Change”, below. Enjoy!

Another Indiana based political blog has endorsed Luke Puckett in his bid to become the next Congressman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

Kevin Tracy, the head blogger at KTracy.com, stated in his post:

“Puckett is a pro-life, pro-family, pro-second amendment, pro-tax relief, pro-intelligence, pro-border security Republican. This guy has it where it counts in my book.”

You can read the endorsement, titled “Luke Puckett Can Win Back a Seat Republicans Lost in 2006″, by clicking here.