Jon Zellhoefer, one of four Republicans in the primary for the 34th Assembly District seat now held by term-limited Bill Maze, R-Visalia, spent much of a noontime forum in Visalia making nice with competitors Connie Conway, Becky Maze and Bob Smith.

At today's meeting of the Visalia Republican Women, all four agreed on the need for cutting the state budget, strengthening local control of schools, and coming up with a fair way to redraw legislative and congressional districts.

But when a question arose about energy supplies and oil prices, Zellhoefer was the only one to step to the mike and take a swing.

Zellhoefer lashed out with a zeal that's uncharacteristic for a party with strong ties between the White House and the oil industry. He blamed Big Oil for quashing altenative energy development by stifling new technologies to buoy reliance on crude oil.

"We see these oil companies advertising about how they're 'investing in alternatives to oil,' " Zellhoefer said. "What that means is they've bought up all the patents for new technology and canned it."

But in a more conventional party line, Zellhoefer also took environmentalists to task in the quest for energy.

"What we need to do is get our nuclear technology up and running again," he said, "and tell the environmentalists, 'Too bad, sit down and be quiet.' "