By JEFFREY SPIVAK and STEVE EVERLY
The Kansas City Star

With gas prices topping $4 a gallon, the combatants in one of the region’s hottest political contests are vying to come to the rescue.

The Missouri 6th District congressional foes, Republican Sam Graves and Democrat Kay Barnes, have been presenting possible solutions to rising gas prices, along with highlighting each other’s possible missteps on the issue.

-
Meanwhile, Graves in recent weeks made campaign stops at a Liberty trucking company and a North Kansas City pipe manufacturer to tout expanded domestic drilling. Rather than compelling oil companies to use drilling leases they already have, he favors opening up new prime areas for exploration — notably Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Graves was among the first congressional members to sign a “Drill here. Drill now. Pay less” petition promoted by a new public policy group led by former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich.

“I get pretty aggravated that we can’t go drill,” Graves said. “We have to go into places where we know we have proven reserves and produce our own oil. Things will never change until we do that.”

Public opinion may be shifting more to his side. A Pew Research Center poll released this month found that more Americans rate expanded exploration as a high priority — 47 percent, up from 35 percent in February. Also, the poll found that half of the respondents now support drilling in Alaska’s wildlife refuge, up from 42 percent in February.

Read the full story