JEFFERSON CITY – As gas prices around Missouri continue to rise, Democratic U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, Emanuel Cleaver and Russ Carnahan still chose to vote against the American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act that would open 2,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration.

“Not only did these Missouri Democrats vote against reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil yesterday, they also voted against creating jobs,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Instead of helping create jobs and bring more oil to the marketplace, these lawmakers had an opportunity to do something about high gas prices but instead chose rhetoric over action.”

The legislation was supported by all five Missouri House Republicans: Rep. Todd Akin; Rep. Roy Blunt; Rep. Jo Ann Emerson; Rep. Sam Graves and Rep. Kenny Hulshof. Missouri’s Republican U.S. Sens. Jim Talent and Kit Bond also support ANWR exploration.

At peak production in the area, ANWR could provide an additional 1.5 million barrels of oil per day to the lower 48 states. This is an amount equal to the daily supply America lost in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Katrina; it is more than the daily excess supply in today’s global market; and it is nearly equal to the amount we import from Saudi Arabia every day.

Experts have estimated that safe energy exploration and production in ANWR could create between 250,000 to 1,000,000 new jobs in America. The bill also includes an export ban. All oil and natural gas produced in the drilling area in ANWR must stay in the United States.