This Friday marks the one-year anniversary of a vote that revealed a fundamental tenet of the House Democrats’ energy policy — their strong aversion to American-made energy.

As the price of gasoline hovered at $2.98 per gallon and oil on the world market was trading just below $68 per barrel, alarm bells were ringing with the prospect of escalating fuel costs, yet those alarms fell on deaf ears.

On June 27, 2007, the House inexplicably approved an amendment to the fiscal 2008 Interior appropriations bill that threatens our nation’s economic future by blocking all commercial exploration for oil shale on public lands.  Six votes was all it took to lock away an estimated 2.1 trillion barrels in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming — resources well above the capacity of Saudi, Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan oil reserves combined. It defies logic that China has been given license to drill off the Florida Keys in Cuban waters, and yet our own resources in the West, ANWR and the Outer Continental Shelf are locked away.

How can we possibly ask Arab nations to increase their oil production while we close off our coasts and interior to environmentally sound exploration?  Let’s unlock our resources and chart our nation on a course towards energy independence, fortifying our nation’s energy supply for generations to come.

We are clearly at a crossroads. The United States currently imports nearly 70 percent of our oil demand and is estimated to be importing as much as 85 percent of our petroleum needs by 2012. Further, our nation’s overall energy needs are expected to increase nearly 40 percent by 2030.

While global oil production fell by 126,000 barrels a day in 2007, consumption grew by a million barrels a day. India’s and China’s energy consumption continue to grow by more than 10 percent a year, and that consumption will continue to sharply escalate as one-third of the world’s population enters the industrial age.

Oil is just a piece of the overall puzzle in meeting the energy needs of future generations. We have the capability and technology to responsibly pursue American-made energy — through domestic exploration, the advancement of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, the promotion of clean coal technologies and emissions-free nuclear power, and increased conservation through efficient technologies.

As the national dialogue focuses on energy independence and climate change, it is imperative that clean coal technologies and nuclear power are part of the conversation to ensure that energy prices do not spike further. Coal currently supplies about 50 percent of our nation’s energy supply, while nuclear power today accounts for 20 percent, followed by natural gas at 20 percent, hydroelectric at 7 percent and other renewables such as wind and solar at 2 percent.

If we were to maintain the current ratio of electricity generation, to meet future demand over the next 20 years we would have to construct 747 new coal plants, 52 new nuclear plants and 1,994 new hydro-electric plants.

Energy prices drive our economy. As the price of gasoline has skyrocketed, due in part to policies that limit access to American energy resources, it is critical that electricity rates do not follow suit.

While supplying just 20 percent of our electricity, nuclear power accounts for an extraordinary 70 percent of our nation’s emissions-free electricity. By harnessing exciting clean coal technologies that literally scrub carbon dioxide from the air, and expanding emissions-free nuclear power, we can meet the energy needs of tomorrow and make tremendous progress reducing harmful greenhouse gases.

We are desperate for a cohesive solution to our energy needs — our world economic standing hangs in the balance.  The ripple effect of high energy costs will continue to be a staggering burden on working families for decades to come, unless we take responsibility and chart a new course toward energy independence.

Fuel prices are already exacerbated, and electricity prices are now starting to rise as well.

We owe it to working Americans to put partisan politics aside and pursue long-term solutions. It defies common sense for Democrat leaders to shun coal, nuclear and increased domestic exploration as part of the solution. Continued pursuit of such shortsighted policies will prove devastating.

American families are already at the brink struggling to make ends meet, but our continued inaction leaves us highly vulnerable to two entities that still have yet to affect high fuel prices — Mother Nature and the anti-American regimes that dominate the world oil market. Should we endure another catastrophic hurricane, or should Chavez or Ahmadinejad cut off our supply, we will be confronted with energy prices the likes of which we have never seen.

We are a nation of the world’s best and brightest minds. With a greater emphasis on harnessing new technologies and American ingenuity, rather than government regulations that block America’s resources, we can address our expanding energy needs in an environmentally and economically sensitive manner.

Reversing last year’s vote on oil shale would be an important first step toward fulfilling our commitment to future generations.

Upton is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.