There are many problems that our nation and southern Minnesota face. Traveling through the district and listening to voters’ concerns I hear about many problems that face us including high gas prices, taxes, health care, immigration, education and national security. Of greatest concern to voters at present are economic and energy issues. And rightly so, because gas and diesel prices have nearly doubled in the last two years.

Home heating costs and input costs in agriculture, particularly fertilizer costs, have also increased dramatically. The inflation rate is the highest in over 17 years while home and stock equity have declined — a double blow to our economic well-being. In the view of many, a substantial reason for these problems stems from the increased cost of oil and natural gas. Energy is the lifeblood of a modern economy and affects nearly every facet of our economy.

A key component of our economic and personal security is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to maintain as low a cost as possible for energy in a responsible and environmentally sensitive manner.

These reasons underline the need for our representative to the U.S. Congress to understand America’s energy crisis and have a vision to implement a meaningful change in our nation’s energy policy. We need to move beyond slogans and examine real facts and numbers in a level-headed manner.

Milton Friedman, a renowned economist, said once, “The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.”

His quote couldn’t better summarize our federal government’s response to date to our continuing energy crisis. In the past 18 months, Congress under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi has either denied floor debate or voted against domestic oil and natural gas development legislation 11 times even while energy costs have skyrocketed.

The wealth of our nation and other free nations is due largely to the free enterprise system, not to a Congress inclined to micromanage the economy and our nation’s energy production and consumption. In my opinion, our government should be promoting policies that remove obstacles to increased production of the major sources of energy that fuel our economy: oil, natural gas, coal and uranium while maintaining anti-pollution laws.

If Congress wants an energy bill it should work to remove obstacles to domestic energy production by increasing supply, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf for oil exploration and drilling. Allowing the current moratorium on offshore drilling to expire on Sept. 30 as is currently scheduled would be the simplest and most direct way to move toward increasing our oil supply over the long run. It is also very likely that such a move by Congress would result in a reduction in the cost of gas and diesel fuel even in the short term.

As a candidate to the U.S. House of Representatives I favor an “all of the above energy policy” that relies on the dynamism of the free market and private industry. We need the following:

Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and natural gas exploration and drilling. Congressman Tim Walz has voted against allowing such bills to be debated in Congress or voted against them outright a total of 11 times since being in Congress. Instead of remaining in Congress to move forward with the new bipartisan energy bill, HR 6709, and in contrast to the majority of the authors of the bill, he voted to shut down Congress for over a month while gas prices take their toll on all of us.

Providing a stable regulatory environment that permits the development of nuclear power, an underutilized safe and clean source of electric energy.

Continuing with the development of alternative energy supplies such as biofuels, wind power and solar energy. As Minnesotans we should be proud that we are among the nation’s leaders in these areas and are making a positive contribution to reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Continuing with laws to safeguard our air from significant air pollution. Our nation’s energy policy and economic well-being should be based on good science where cause and effect are clearly linked.

The politicians have failed to implement an energy strategy that protects America’s interests. We need a change in Congress, and in this regard I’d be honored to receive your support on Sept. 9 in the primary election, so that I can work for you to enact meaningful and positive change for America and to help solve our most pressing problems.

Brian Davis is the endorsed Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1st District. He and his wife, Lori, live in Rochester with their four children.