Energy, health care and education are the three areas U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., would concentrate on if elected to another term in November.

Enzi spoke to the Casper Star-Tribune's editorial board Thursday morning and then headed to an engagement with the Casper Rotary Club, where he was scheduled to speak about energy problems.

People in Washington have been calling for a national energy policy since the 1970s, Enzi told the editorial board, yet the country still does not have one.

He said he has requested one, as had the late Craig Thomas, former Wyoming U.S. Senator. The policy would help find long-term solutions to energy problems.

Congress also needs to discuss long-term solutions for the governmental health insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, which Enzi said are going broke.

The recent bill to stop a 10.6 percent decrease in Medicare payments to physicians that was passed was just a temporary solution to a larger problem, he said.

He vetoed the bill in July because he said it was "gotcha politics." It didn't go through the committee, left senators with no other choice and was passed because it was an election year, Enzi said.

Enzi said he felt Congress could have made some real, long-term changes had members worked on the bill longer and put it through the proper committees.

"Every year we wait to solve the Medicare problems, especially doctor reimbursements, the less possibilities we will have," Enzi said.

Enzi said it's easier to address issues in smaller measures instead of the large comprehensive bills Congress usually works with.

In his "10 steps to Transform Health Care in America," Enzi said any one of those steps would make it easier and less costly to access health care.

"We need to do that for energy," Enzi said. "There is a group of about 10 [congressmen] putting together a comprehensive energy bill, and I'm not optimistic it will pass."

Enzi said that he suggests lowering the priority of offshore drilling and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to address more pressing energy problems. In relation to ANWR, however, Enzi said proposals that he's looked at would only allow drilling in segment of land roughly the size of Casper/Natrona County International Airport.

Other energy solutions include electric cars and wind power. He said electric cars wouldn't work well in Wyoming with the long distances between cities but would work great in urban settings.

Wind power could reduce the need for natural gas.

"The problem with wind is what do you do when the wind is not blowing," Enzi said, and there is no way to store it at this time.

If he is elected again, Enzi said he will help reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act after fixing "some of the bugs" in it. He would continue his work on the Workforce Investment Act.

"That would train 900,000 people a year for higher paying jobs," Enzi said.

Contact reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.