With the price of crude oil hovering around $135 a barrel, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Monday called on Congress to open a small part of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling, as well as lift the moratorium on exploration and development in much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

“What will it take for Congress to enact comprehensive energy policy that includes increased domestic production of oil and gas, renewable and alternative energy, and conservation? It seems to us outside of the Capital Beltway that virtually every effort to accomplish this is met with criticism and failure. In my opinion, the debate about energy policy is no longer theoretical and abstract,” she wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Her letter comes less than a week after President Bush urged Capitol Hill leaders to pass legislation that would remove the 27-year-old ban on drilling in the majority of the OCS and open a portion of ANWR to exploration (see Daily GPI, June 19).

“In the last few days, proposals have been tabled to permit oil exploration and development in the 80% of the federal Outer Continental Shelf, which is off-limits to such activity. I strongly support OCS development in Alaska and elsewhere as a necessary component of a sound energy strategy,” Palin said (see Daily GPI, June 12). “However, it makes no sense to consider the OCS and to ignore the possibility of exploration and development in the highly [prospective] upland areas, including the coastal plain of ANWR — the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America.”

“In advocating for oil development in ANWR, I have never guaranteed that this new domestic production would immediately reduce the price of oil. However, incremental production from the coastal plain should help reduce price volatility in the U.S.”

She said she believes there is an “even more important” reason for the U.S. to step up drilling on its own lands. “Countries that produce significant quantities of oil and natural gas are gaining in power and prestige. Several of these countries have objectives and value systems that are antithetical to U.S. interests. We are becoming increasingly dependent on these insecure sources to our long-term detriment,” Palin said.

“If we don’t move now to enact an energy policy that includes more oil and gas production from domestic sources, including ANWR and the federal OCS, we may look back someday and realize that we failed to perceive a critical crossroad in the history of this nation. I don’t think it’s overly dramatic to say that this nation’s future and the quality of life for every American are dependent on the decisions you make or don’t make in the next few months.”

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