Environmental concerns are 'the new boogeyman' meant to scare the public, he says
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is concentrating on local energy issues as he works his way through natural-gas rich Oklahoma. Santorum found a receptive crowd of nearly 1,000 people in an Oklahoma City hotel Thursday by giving an unflinching endorsement to hydraulic fracturing. That's the controversial method for extracting natural gas using pressurized chemicals to break open gas-bearing rock.
View full sizeRepublican presidential candidate Rick Santorum speaks during a rally in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Santorum says environmental concerns are unfounded. He called them "the new boogeyman" meant to scare the public.
The former Pennsylvania senator has two events in the conservative state, which holds its primary early next month. His second campaign stop is at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.
Santorum is fresh off primary victories Tuesday in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.