Coleman wants offshore drilling to fund alternative energy

Norm Coleman
Norm Coleman outside the Secretary of State's office after filing for reelection on Manday, July 14, 2008.
MPR Photo/Mark Zdechlik

Republican Senator Norm Coleman wants offshore drilling to pay for the development of alternative energy sources.

Coleman laid out details of his plan Monday in St. Paul.

Lease payments from offshore drilling would help fund more wind energy transmission lines, improve federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants and increase the number of E-85 fuel stops along interstate highways.

"It's clear to me that if we are to truly seize the initiative and really begin to lessen that dependency on foreign oil, that we have to do more than simply ad-hoc proposals today. We have to change the nation's infrastructure," Coleman said.

Coleman's Democratic challenger Al Franken criticized Coleman's energy plan as "election-year posturing."

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