Homer Alaska - News -

As the chatter grew in intensity and volume, Young entered the room with his wife, Lu, and two aides. He took to the podium and wasted no time in touching on the topic that was fresh in the minds of his audience.

"We've been faced with a real crisis in this country. It hits hard right here in Alaska as well as nationwide, and that's the price of energy," Young announced.

Young blamed his colleagues in Congress, particularly those in the Democratic majority, for failing to take action on rising energy costs, saying that they seem unconcerned that the United States is importing more than 70 percent of its oil from other countries. He warned that nations with growing economies like China and India are now using more oil than the U.S., and that the new crowding in the world oil marketplace is primarily responsible for driving up prices.

He saved his most pointed remarks, however, for environmentalists who, he said, have convinced the nation of the "myth of global warming."

"Nancy Pelosi wants to save the planet, and she's a firm believer that, because we're burning fossil fuels, we're creating global warming. I question that very seriously," said Young.

Young told the crowd that global warming and cooling patterns are cyclical, and that they have happened six times over the planet's history.

He pointed to the unusually cool summer experienced this year in Southcentral Alaska as evidence that environmentalists are wrong about global warming and foretold of financial collapse in the United States if the country were to stop using fossil fuels.

"I support conservation and I like all the forms of alternative energy, but if we don't have fossil fuels, we don't have an economy," said Young.

Young said that he wishes Alaska would capitalize on its potential to produce renewable forms of energy, such as tidal and geothermal power, and called on the state Legislature to spend more of its surplus budget money developing those resources.

"We ought to produce every form of power we've got as fixed power, so we can lower the cost to consumers in Alaska and so they're not paying seven dollars a gallon for heating oil in Fort Yukon," Young said.

Doug Ruzicka, president of the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce, which invited Young to speak, agreed that energy costs are the number one issue facing Alaskans, particularly those in rural areas like Anchor Point.

"High energy prices are really hammering a lot of people here. We have a lot of low-income families in the area and they're going to have a hard time paying for fuel this coming winter," said Ruzicka.

Ruzicka noted that Anchor Point is a conservative community and is friendly territory for Young, who has spoken before the chamber many times. He said that the chamber plans to invite more political candidates, including Democrats, to speak before the community in the near future.

As far as the race for Alaska's sole seat in the U.S. House, however, Ruzicka believes that Anchor Point is still Don Young country.

"We like his spirit. We like his spunk. That's kind of the way we are around here," said Ruzicka.