U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, on Wednesday hammered his Republican opponent, a retired oil and gas executive, for a pledge to scrap the Department of Energy.

Edwards said shuttering the department — a plan that Bryan’s Bill Flores endorsed frequently during the GOP primary — would spell doom for plans to expand nuclear energy production in the United States.

He also said it would end a generous source of money for nuclear engineering research at Texas A&M University and increase the threat of nuclear terrorism.

Bill Flores (left) defended himself against opponent Chet Edwards, who criticized the Bryan Republican for wanting to scrap the Department of Energy.

Citing a plan in the works to expand the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant in Somervell County, Edwards said Flores’ proposal “would hurt jobs and economic development in our district.”

Edwards said if a Department of Energy program to protect nuclear material in the former Soviet Union from theft were to be cut, it also would “put our nation at greater risk of nuclear terrorism.”

Flores’ campaign manager, Matt Mackowiak, said in response that the Department of Energy could be cut without threatening security or jeopardizing Comanche Peak.

“Since the Energy Department was created in 1977 to end our dependence on foreign oil, it has failed to meet its primary objective, even though it costs taxpayers about $30 billion each year,” Mackowiak said.

But he qualified the proposed axing of the agency by saying, “those elements of the Department of Energy which are effective should be transferred to other federal agencies, while eliminating the bloated, costly programs which have not worked.”

Though he called the Department of Energy “gargantuan” and pointed out its annual budget, Flores did not say what it would cost to maintain “effective” department programs.

Megan Jacobs, Edwards’ campaign spokeswoman, said cutting the department’s budget, which represents less than 1 percent of the total federal budget, wouldn’t make a dent when it comes to deficit reduction.

And she said Flores was inconsistent by calling for the end of the department but then saying he supports programs within it.

“Flores can’t have it both ways — saying he will save taxpayer money while saying he will just transfer programs to other agencies,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs also argued the agency has made strides toward decreasing reliance on foreign oil, pointing to an energy-efficiency program that “has already saved $6 billion and the energy required to power 10 million homes.”

Mackowiak highlighted Flores’ extensive energy industry background and noted that the Republican candidate installed solar panels on his Bryan home.

“Bill Flores has spent most of his career producing American energy and creating hundreds of good-paying jobs in the energy sector, so for career politician Chet Edwards to lecture us on American energy development rings hollow, at best,” he said.

During the GOP primary, Flores said it wasn’t the government’s responsibility “to be loaning money for (nuclear) plants or to be guaranteeing the debt on those plants.”

Edwards jumped on the remark during the general election, and a top official at Luminant, which operates Comanche Peak, said that without a federally guaranteed loan, the proposed expansion was dead in the water.

After Edwards produced a recording of Flores from a primary event, Flores said his opinion has shifted after meeting with power company officials and he supports the loan guarantee program.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

757-5707