Energy

Democrat Running Surprisingly Close Race In Deep Red State Says He Supports Parts Of Green New Deal

Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour

The Democratic candidate in Kansas’ toss-up Senate race said during a Wednesday debate that he does not support the Green New Deal as a whole — but still backs some of it.

Democratic Senate nominee Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor, weighed in on the topic during a debate with one-term incumbent Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall hosted by WDAF-TV. Marshall had tied his opponent to the Green New Deal during an exchange over high diesel prices, KCTV reported.

Asked by the moderator whether he supports the Green New Deal, Hamilton said, “No, I don’t support the Green New Deal. Parts of it, yes.”

A Hamilton campaign spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that Hamilton meant his plan to bring back the energy production tax credits that the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act created and President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed. The spokesperson said the credits were especially important for wind power in Kansas.

Hamilton’s campaign website calls for restoring “energy production tax credits” and says he “supports all of the above energy production.”

A 2019 House resolution from Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez which sought to adopt the Green New Deal policy framework called for “meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources.” The nonbinding House resolution never advanced past committee.

Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up, one of six Republican-held Senate seats in that category.

Marshall’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

The incumbent Republican said during the debate that the main reason diesel costs so much is the war in Ukraine, which he argued has cut diesel production. He also said the U.S. depends on imported diesel because of Green New Deal policies he said Hamilton supports.

Hamilton blamed the war with Iran instead, saying the war “didn’t need to happen” and that “this is why the prices went to record highs.”

Marshall said on the debate stage that he wants the war over as soon as possible but that Iran must not get a nuclear weapon.

Hamilton wants federal fuel taxes paused while the Iran war continues, the AP reported. Marshall said during the debate that he is not opposed to a short-term pause on the diesel tax.

The Hamilton campaign spokesperson said Hamilton wants to force the Iran war to a close, blaming it for higher diesel, fertilizer and phosphate costs.

Diesel in Kansas averaged $6.06 a gallon Thursday, up from $3.38 a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association.

Trump announced $8 billion in one-time harvest payments for farmers on Monday through a program called Harvest Fuel Relief, according to the Department of Agriculture. The election is Nov. 3.

The Kansas Senate debate was held on Wednesday at WDAF’s studios in Kansas City, Missouri.