By Rob Scott
The Daily Item

NORTHUMBERLAND - Chris Hackett sounded hopeful during a stop a Borough Council meeting Tuesday night, but he wasn’t making promises.

When asked his opinion of the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway being put in “hibernation” recently by the state Department of Transportation, the Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Chris Carney in the 10th Congressional District called the project a critical issue for this area and a key economic development tool.

But he added, “I’m not going to stand here, like some others have before me, and promise you I’m going to guarantee the funding.”

The thruway was one of several topics Hackett touched on during a question-and-answer session, with the candidate sharing his opinions on subjects ranging from health care to the war on terror to alternative energy.

“Nuclear is a terrific option. It’s a very smart way for us to go and generate energy independence,” he said, referring to nuclear power plants in Berwick and Middletown as “great employers with wages well above averages in this area.”

He also said he would advocate drilling for oil on the Alaskan tundra and pursuing other alternative energy solutions, such as wind and solar power.

“We should pursue all market-driven alternative energy solutions,” he said, but stopped short of throwing his support behind a proposed ethanol storage and distribution facility in Point Township.

“I’m not a fan of subsidizing ethanol and using our food supply to make ethanol,” Hackett said. “The last thing we should be doing is using taxpayer money to fund ethanol.”

However, if a developer could fund the construction of an ethanol facility on his own, without government subsidies, he said, that would be a different story.

Much of the discussion focused on economic development, with Hackett advocating alternative energy as a way to create local jobs.

He said Congress needs to “reinvent America from a pro-business perspective … None of us wants our kids to leave this region to get other jobs. We need to make this an attractive place to do business again.”

Hackett’s visit to Northumberland was his second stop in the region Tuesday after dropping in at a Union County Republican picnic in Mifflinburg earlier in the day. He also stopped by the Sunbury River Festival on Friday.

He said he and his wife plan on taking a bike tour of the area next week.

Council President Bryan Wolfe said the borough also invited Carney to one of its meetings. He is tentatively scheduled to visit in October.

– E-mail comments to rscott@dailyitem.com.