America is blessed with an abundance of natural energy resources. Geologists believe vast reserves of oil lie under the continental shelf off our Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan Arctic coasts. Enormous oil reserves are present in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and in the Green River Basin oil shale region of the American West. Except for about one-third of the oil shale region, all of these areas are under federal control.

Incredibly, these vast proven and potential oil reserves, which could meet our energy needs for years to come, lie untapped. Environmental obstacles discourage oil shale development. Exploration and drilling activity in the other areas has long been hindered or prohibited by the U.S. government. Environmentalists’ concerns regarding the possibility of oil spills or despoliation of these areas held complete sway over Presidents and the Congress for most of the past 30 years. In the fall of 2008 with gasoline prices reaching $4.00 a gallon, federal leasing restrictions off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico were lifted, but the Obama Administration is doing little to move lease sales ahead. Oil companies with leases off the Alaskan Arctic coast wait endlessly for approval of exploration and drilling permits. Under federal law, ANWR is off limits.

Without access to these reserves, America purchases overseas oil to meet most of its energy demands. Imports account for almost 65 percent of the oil consumed in this country. Foreign sources of our oil include OPEC states in the Middle East and Africa, many of them centers of Islamic radicalism, Venezuela, also an OPEC state and home of Hugo Chavez - one of the most virulent anti-American dictators in the world - and Russia. Our purchase of imported oil funds many of the radicals around the world who want to destroy us. These foreign sources can cut off the oil spigots flowing to America anytime they want.

Domestic drilling restrictions force American companies to search for new sources of oil in difficult areas around the world at very high cost. This results in higher prices for U.S. fuel and for the countless items manufactured using chemicals derived from petroleum. Domestic drilling restrictions also cost American workers thousands of jobs.

No new gasoline refineries have been built in the United States in the past 33 years, although fuel consumption during this time has increased over 50 percent. With refinery capacity limited, America faces the possibility of gasoline shortages in periods of high demand. Supply disruptions and the possibly of shortages drive up gasoline prices. Additional refinery capacity would help alleviate these problems. Burdensome environmental regulations discourage companies from building more refineries.

Various economic and geopolitical factors can adversely impact the price and supply of the oil we import. Global demand for energy, especially in China and India, will expand significantly when economic recovery begins, and energy prices will increase. Although energy demand is down in the current recession, the price of gasoline has gone up in the United States. Investors, fearing the return of inflation due to irresponsible governmental monetary and fiscal policies, are buying oil futures along with gold and other commodities as inflation hedges, driving up oil prices. These policies also promise to cause the value of the dollar to decline, which will result in higher oil prices. Disruption in the world’s oil supply, from terrorist attacks or regional conflicts, is a very real possibility. Should disruption occur, energy prices will plateau.

Expensive energy and high priced gasoline again loom in our future. U.S. environmental and energy policies are much to blame. But it doesn’t have to be this way. And we don’t have to compromise our national security by relying on unfriendly foreign powers for our energy.

We need conservative fighters in Congress who won’t rest until Americans are put to work exploring, extracting, refining, and delivering America’s oil to meet the energy needs of American businesses and consumers. Oil extraction technology has improved to extent that there hasn’t been an oil spill of consequence from drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in over 30 years. The hundreds of drilling platforms there have withstood numerous hurricanes during that time, all without significant environmental incident. There is no reason this technology should not be used to safely and responsibly recover our vast untapped reserves of American oil.

We also need to put American ingenuity to work developing alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar energy and biofuels. But while we wait on these promising sources, America should not be held hostage to foreign energy. All of our resources should be fully developed.

We need conservative fighters in Congress who will support the expanded use of nuclear power to help meet America’s energy needs. Nuclear power has proved to be a safe, clean, and very efficient source of energy. The only major nuclear accident in the United States occurred over 30 years ago. However, no new orders for nuclear power plants have been submitted in the U.S. in over 30 years. During that span, electrical usage in this country has increased by 80 percent. The Yucca Mountain site in Nevada should be approved immediately as a national nuclear waste repository. The Obama Administration’s February decision to close the site before it opened leaves the nation without a long term solution for storage of spent nuclear fuel, making future expansion of nuclear power more problematic.

We need conservative fighters in Congress who will support the continued use of coal in meeting America’s energy needs. Coal is the most cost efficient means of generating electricity. Coal fired plants generate 57 percent of the electrical power used in the United States. Included in this figure is electricity generated using lignite in the 1st Congressional district at the Red Hills Power Plant in Choctaw County.

What America does not need is a costly cap and trade law allowing the federal government to control carbon emissions generated by United States business and industry based on inexact and controverted climate change science. We need a Congressman who will work to defeat cap and trade, and who will work to amend the Clean Air Act to prevent EPA regulation of carbon dioxide emissions as an air pollutant.