Three Republicans — Steve Aste, Scott Cuthbertson and Amber Shill — are competing for the party’s nomination and a chance to unseat Democratic State Sen. Kathleen Riebe in Senate District 15, which covers all or parts of Midvale, Cottonwood Heights, Sandy and Holladay. Aste ran a general contracting company and currently owns a cleaning services company; Cuthbertson is the CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah; and Shill is the president of the Canyons School District Board of Education.
The Salt Lake Tribune submitted the same set of questions to each candidate asking about issues readers said were important to Utah. Their questions and answers that appear below — with the candidates listed in alphabetical order — may have been edited slightly for length, style or grammar. Cuthbertson and Shill did not respond to The Tribune questions.
1. Utah’s largest electricity provider has canceled plans to replace its coal-fired power plants with nuclear power and has walked back comments about investing in clean energy. Should Utah, while it actively supports housing and business development, also be looking for more sustainable and less fossil fuel and carbon-dependent energy sources? Steve Aste: Utah should always seek additional energy sources.
We have the innovation and resources here to lead the world in this area. This does not mean however, that we should not also utilize our vast reserves of coal and natural gas. The truth of the matter is that altern.
