Fallin visits Alaska, calls for oil drilling

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Oklahoma Congresswoman Mary Fallin is pushing for a bill she says will help businesses and households suffering from record-high energy prices.

The American Energy Act would increase energy supply and promote conservation as well as new technology, Fallin said.

"We have the innovation, we have people. We have the ability here in America to be able to produce our own energy," Fallin said.

Fallin's plan called for offshore oil drilling and tapping resources at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The Oklahoma City representative recently returned from a tour of the area.

"It's a frozen tundra," Fallin said. "What we saw is that wildlife and the environment itself can co-exist with the production of energy."

Fallin said the U.S. has been drilling in Prudhoe Bay for decades and it can also be done in ANWR with minimal risk to the wildlife there.

"We can do it in a less intrusive environmentally way because the pad sizes are much smaller than they were 30 years ago when we first started production in that area," Fallin said.

Offshore drilling can only serve as a short term solution. Fallin said it comes down to families buying fuel efficient cars, building energy efficient products and homes, and pushing lawmakers to take action.

Fallin said there have to be regulations and laws passed by Congress that will allow the U.S. to develop the country's resources.

Fallin said the American Energy Act would also have a program that would give incentives to the first group to develop a super-fuel efficient car.