Windward state Rep. Cynthia Thielen will not have much money for TV commercials or get to debate U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka before the November election, but she hopes to use her unexpected time in the spotlight as the Republican candidate for Senate to have a conversation with voters about renewable energy.

If that sounds like wonkish lectures about wave power, you probably have not heard Thielen speak. The politically moderate grandmother of 10 talks with the zeal of a street protester about the nation's dependence on fossil fuel. She not only links the use of oil to global warming and higher gasoline and electricity prices, but also warns that it makes the country more vulnerable to terrorism.

"I can get the issue out both here and nationally," Thielen said of her six-week campaign. "End our dependence on oil. Stop funding terrorism."

Over the summer, Thielen said it would be irresponsible, even criminal, for the state's Public Utilities Commission to allow Hawaiian Electric Co. to build another power plant in 2009 that burns fossil fuel instead of investing more in experimental wave power. She believes Hawai'i is falling behind the Mainland despite its ideal location to test wave energy.

Thielen said in an interview on Friday that Akaka's support for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska was inexcusable. She called his explanation that Arctic drilling is an issue of self-determination for indigenous people in Alaska "whitewashing."

"I think you need to be a leader and say, 'No. We're not going to drill for more oil,'" Thielen said.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who lost to Akaka last weekend in the Democratic primary, also tried to use Arctic drilling as an issue against the senator but was not as disparaging as Thielen. The Akaka campaign's emphasis on the senator's opposition to the war in Iraq, and his generally stronger ratings on other environmental issues, may have neutralized his Arctic drilling votes among independents and progressives. The issue may not have as much effect among Republican voters, and could actually hurt Thielen, because many Republicans in Congress have favored drilling.

Thielen's campaign will be about more than the environment, but since she has only a few weeks — and is not expected to win — she wants to get the most out of her sudden platform. "This allows my whole campaign to be issue oriented," she said.

Thielen, 73, was appointed by the Hawai'i Republican Party to replace Jerry Coffee, a former Navy pilot and motivational speaker who won the Republican primary despite withdrawing because of health reasons after the ballots were printed. The party was looking for someone articulate and credible who could speak to independents but who had nothing to lose politically. Thielen had no opposition this year in state House District 50 (Kailua, Mokapu), and will not have to give up her seat to run.

At the Monday news conference on her appointment, Thielen said she could not say how she would have voted on the war in Iraq because she did not have the same information Congress was given at the time. She said she did not favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops but suggested that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be replaced.

In the interview Friday, and in a position paper posted on her campaign Web site, she clarified her views on the war.

Thielen said she would have supported the initial invasion but believes the United States did not have an adequate post-war strategy. She said President Bush should fire or reassign Rumsfeld and Army Gen. John Abizaid, who commands military operations in Iraq. She said the Iraqi government should either pass a bill requesting that U.S. troops stay or have a referendum on the question.

Thielen said she wants the United States to succeed and Iraq to become an example of a functioning democracy in the Middle East. But she believes without substantial changes to the Bush administration's policy there is no alternative other than to withdraw troops. "I am unwilling to ask our men and women to give up their lives when our leadership is giving them no chance of success," she wrote in her position paper.

Akaka, 82, opposed the invasion and was among the earliest critics of the administration's post-war strategy. The senator has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by July 2007.

'AN ORIGINAL THINKER'

Thielen was a freshman studying international relations at Stanford University in the 1950s when she dropped out to marry Mickey Thielen, a contractor she had dated while in high school. Her mother was dismayed, but Thielen promised she would one day finish college. The couple had four children and had moved to the Islands before Thielen, two decades later, went to the University of Hawai'i to get her undergraduate and law degrees.

"It was a way to accomplish what I felt was necessary," she said of going into law.

Republicans who have known Thielen for years describe her as an independent thinker.

"What makes her effective is she is not a diehard," said state Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), who recommended Thielen for the Senate appointment. "She can work with people."

State Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-19th (Kaimuki, Kahala, Wai'alae Iki), said Thielen is a relentless campaigner who will attack the Senate race with vigor. "She's an original thinker, very creative," she said.

Thielen, as an environmental attorney before she got into politics, fought for Hawaiian access to the Navy's former bombing range at Kaho'olawe and opposed the H-3 Freeway because of the potential for Windward sprawl. She also worked with the poor as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i. She is a direct descendant of the American patriot Patrick Henry ("Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!") — but said she respects the sovereignty rights of Hawaiians and their spiritual connection to the Islands.

"I developed very deep roots with the Hawaiian community," she said of her legal work with Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana. "Those are bonds I will always cherish."

Thielen ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1986 before winning her House seat in 1990. She has supported abortion rights, physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill and industrial hemp. She has opposed legalizing gambling and expanding the right to carry concealed firearms.

Thielen has also opposed a tax increase for a Honolulu rail project, which Akaka and the rest of the state's congressional delegation have backed to give commuters an alternative to traffic congestion. She said rail would not be used by enough people to justify the cost but she would consider alternatives like high-occupancy toll lanes to reduce traffic. "I don't think rail is the answer," she said.

Sierra club support?

Some voters and interest groups will likely make their decision in the Senate race on more than just public policy. Republicans are trying to protect their Senate majority, while Democrats are trying to pick up the six seats necessary to win control, so some will be influenced by national politics.

Jeff Mikulina, the director of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter, said the group would meet soon to decide whether to endorse. The Sierra Club did not endorse in the primary between Akaka and Case, which some Democrats saw as politically timid given the importance of Arctic drilling to environmentalists. The Sierra Club endorsed Thielen's re-election to the state House.

"She's always been a strong advocate in the state House," Mikulina said. "It's a challenge for us because there is a different dynamic in the U.S. Senate."

State Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawai'i Kai), said Thielen would do her best against Akaka under the circumstances but asked, more broadly, whether the local party is afraid of standing up for President Bush or conservative beliefs.

"Why would voters want Republicans moving closer to Democrats when they can have the real thing?" Slom asked.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.