A candidate for U.S. Senate is tackling rising energy costs.

Republican Jim Gilmore is pushing for more oil drilling in the U.S.  The former governor says domestic oil production would help lower the price of gas and create new jobs.
 
Gilmore was in Lynchburg Monday afternoon, touring the Delta Star transformer plant.  He criticized congress for putting off action that would create new sources of energy.

"We can't just keep following the same old policies of the 1970s, and you can't postpone things just thinking about some future matter," says Gilmore.  "You've got to bring some help for working people right now."

Gilmore says options like clean coal and nuclear power should also be explored as alternatives to oil and gasoline.