Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey visited a Neville Island steel plant today and argued that its business would be threatened by the energy policies favored by his opponent. His Democratic opponent, Joe Sestak, stuck back hard at a later stop in Blawnox, previewing what is setting up to be a tough campaign through the fall.

After addressing a few dozen employees of Frontier Steel, Mr. Toomey said that, "I'm concerned that if cap-and-trade became law, it would put them out of business."

Mr. Sestak returned fire a couple hours later at a talk at the woman-owned Allegheny Fabricating & Supplies. "Pat Toomey is in the pocket of big oil and big oil doesn't want alternative energy," he said, noting Mr. Toomey favored drilling in Lake Erie and the deregulation of energy industries while a Lehigh Valley congressman.

"Congressman Toomey is an ideologue -- someone who believes you benefit Wall Street or big corporations rather than working families," Mr. Sestak said.

Mr. Sestak, a Delaware County congressman, voted for the House version of legislation designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions by raising the costs of using polluting fuels. Mr. Sestak and other supporters contend that the costs to consumers would be minimal and that the approach of the legislation would add jobs in the long term.

After the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama renewed his call for passage of comprehensive energy legislation but the measure is stalled in the Senate.

Mr. Toomey, a former congressman, has sought to use the energy bill as a major theme of his criticism of his opponent. He noted that five Pennsylvania Democrats voted against the bill in the House. Energy and other issues including health care reform, the national debt and taxes are part of a raft of television advertisements his campaign is launching statewide against the Democrat tonight.

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