Oil shale and nuclear energy development are the best bets for meeting the country's energy needs, U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon said Thursday during a forum at Utah Valley State College.

He also endorsed the White House's stance on terrorism detainees and recent legislation setting up a procedure for holding and prosecuting those deemed "enemy combatants"-- although he also said ethical and legal issues remain that the next generation must deal with.

Cannon, R-Utah, is seeking his sixth term representing Utah's 3rd Congressional District.

His Democratic opponent, Christian Burridge, spoke at UVSC on Wednesday, and two other candidates -- Libertarian Phillip Hallman and the Constitution Party's Jim Noorlander -- are also in the race.

Cannon opened his remarks by talking about energy and the potential of oil shale to provide a cheap, domestic supply of oil.

"We have more energy in our shale in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado than in the Middle East," he said. "It's at least twice as much and probably five times as much oil."

The problem is extracting it efficiently, and several companies are studying ways to retrieve the oil at an economical cost.

If the new technologies work, Cannon said, oil could be delivered to the market at $15 to $20 a barrel. Oil was trading at around $58 a barrel Thursday.

In response to an audience question, however, he acknowledged that other sources of energy -- including geothermal, wind and hydrogen power -- need to be pursued.

"These things are all marginal compared to what we need for energy today," he added.

"Nuclear is the biggest source of non-greenhouse-gas-producing energy that we're going to have. But we're addicted to coal and will be for a great deal of time, and we're addicted to our cars with gasoline."

Cannon also said the country is on the right path when it comes to dealing with terrorism detainees and enemy combatants.

He was challenged by audience members who said Congress should be taking President Bush to task for "violating the rule of law."

"He hasn't," responded Cannon. "The Supreme Court said he needed legislative authorization to do the kind of military tribunals he had been doing" -- which he now has because of the recently enacted Military Commissions Act of 2006.

"I think it was OK beforehand," Cannon said. "Now it's clearly OK."

Parts of the act are being challenged, however. Lawyers representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp argue that the act unconstitutionally restricts detainees' legal rights, and a group of retired federal judges filed a brief arguing that there aren't adequate protections against torture.

Cannon contrasted terrorists attacking Western countries today with German and American "conscripts" in World War II who might have been taken captive during combat.

"Was that guy out there wanting to kill Frenchmen or Americansfi No, he was a citizen of his country who got hooked into the war," he said. "What we have today is a very different world. ... We are talking about two views of the world, and one of them is that if you're an infidel, we can kill you."

When dealing with people "who are not fighting for a country" and who "want to destroy our society," Cannon said, the obligations toward detainees are different.

"You know that they're going to blow up a bomb. There could be 20 school kids, 5- and 7- and 9-year-olds who are going to die," he said. "What do you do with that guyfi Do you have the same obligationfi If you have the same obligation, you might as well kiss off civilization."

When challenged by an audience member, however, Cannon acknowledged that not everyone who is detained is actually associated with terrorism.

"You got a guy who you think is a terrorist," he said. "You're going to pull his toenails out until he tells you who his cohorts are who are going to kill 20 school kids -- and maybe he's innocent. That's the problem.

"I'm not advocating here. I'm saying, 'You've asked the question and you've framed it perfectly.' That's the question of your day.

"That's the question that I'm going to leave the stage long before we get an answer to it, and you guys are going to have to answer that question."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.