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GILFILLAN ESTATE - The forum tent at Farmfest became the center stage for one of the hottest contested seats in the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and challenger Al Franken, D-Minn., met on stage at Farmfest on Tuesday near Redwood Falls for one of their first public forums - debating renewable energy and agriculture policy.

Franken criticized Coleman's actions, tying Coleman's time in the Senate to raising energy prices.

"I do believe in energy independence for the United States," said Franken. "I think we've gone the wrong way in the last seven-and-a-half years. While George W. Bush has been president, our dependence on foreign oil has gone up almost every year.

"We have gone the wrong way because we have gone to more and more oil. Norm Coleman is in the pocket of oil, he has received more contributions from big oil than any other politician in the history of Minnesota."

Coleman pointed toward the leadership of the Democrat party, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who currently serves as Speaker of the House.

"The price of gas has just about doubled since Nancy Pelosi has become speaker of the house," said Coleman.

Coleman and Franken were joined on stage by two other candidates vying for the seat currently held by Coleman.

Independent Dean Barkley and Steve Williams talked about their positions on renewable energy.

Williams blamed both parties for not focusing on the energy issues following a fuel crisis more than 30 years ago.

"We are now having energy prices dictate that auto makers will no longer be able to sell gas guzzlers," said Williams. "This should have been done many years ago when we had our first energy crisis in 1973. We can't afford to wait any longer."

Barkley said there was discussion following the last oil crisis, but ultimately no real changes were made.

"I'm old enough to remember our last energy crisis back in the 1970s. We talked about the need for alternative fuels. What has happened over the last 30 years - practically nothing."

Franken said he wants Minnesota to serve as the center for renewable energy in the country.

"We need to make rural Minnesota the epicenter and engine of a new renewable energy economy," said Franken. "That means bio-fuels, ethanol and it means bio-diesel and the next generation of bio-fuels."

Franken said energy independence has been at the center of his campaign since announcing his candidacy.

"When I started this campaign I called for an Apollo program for energy policy and that means what we did after Sputnik which was massive investments in (research and development)."

Coleman said energy independence will involve ethanol, bio-diesel and wind power in addition to other forms of energy being made available.

"The answer is in this room," Coleman said following a question about moving toward energy independence. Coleman said off-shore drilling and nuclear power will be important moving toward energy independence.

"It's not just one thing, it's looking at everything - that's where I differ from (the other candidates)," Coleman said.

Franken challenged Coleman on his record of working for Minnesota farmers. He pointed to Coleman's reluctance to pass a country of origin labeling system that was recently passed in the 2008 farm bill.

Franken said Coleman voted to cut spending on farms that lead to a delay in passing the farm bill.

"Norm Coleman voted to cut farm spending by $3 billion in 2006 budget," said Franken. "He undercut producers. It made this bill hard to pass because it made the baseline $3 billion lower. Why did he do this, because President Bush wanted it. Why did he delay COOL, because special interests wanted him to."

Coleman said his decision to not support COOL previously was the result of discussions he had with Minnesota livestock producers.

"The reason I had concerns about COOL was because my livestock producers said they had concerns," said Coleman.

Coleman said work on the 2008 farm bill was the result of bipartisan efforts he supported along with Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

"We over-rode two vetoes by the President on the farm bill," said Coleman.