Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today renewed his call for greater energy self-reliance after oil prices climbed to a four-month high of $51 a barrel. Chairman Domenici and Senator Lisa Murkowski are leading a bipartisan CODEL of several senators and two cabinet secretaries to Alaska next week to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay and Alpine. The CODEL will contrast the gentle impact of the modern technology at Alpine with the larger and heavier technology of 30 years ago at Prudhoe Bay. The CODEL will also visit with the Inupiat Eskimos – the only native people who live in the coastal plain of ANWR. DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman and DOI Secretary Gale Norton will accompany the senators. Chairman Domenici’s statement: “World events, tight supplies and soaring prices demand that we produce more of our own energy and conserve more of the energy we produce. The case for greater self-reliance has never been more compelling. The case for environmentally-sensitive energy development in Alaska has never been sounder. “New technology allows oil to be developed 10,000 feet from an oil pad – a drilling distance 10 times greater than it was in 1978. Next week, senators and cabinet secretaries will see ice pads and ice roads that melt by spring, leaving the land unmarred. We will see for ourselves how American ingenuity and innovation protects our environment and our wildlife while allowing us to develop our own energy. “I am ready to craft a bipartisan energy bill that does more for conservation than we’ve done in years. But conservation alone won’t get us there. Our energy strategy must include our best technologies. It’s time to rely more on American resources and American know-how for our energy and less on foreign regimes.” ###