Thanks to the productivity of America’s farmers and ranchers, the vast majority of food Americans eat is produced right here at home. The wealth created by U.S. agriculture also stays home, benefiting rural communities and large metropolitan areas alike.

There is no doubt that America is food secure overall. Much of our country’s economic strength is due to the strength of American agriculture. Agriculture puts money in the bank for all Americans and our nation’s economic health depends on productive farming and ranching.

Just as America is food secure, it is imperative that we become energy secure. The United States must take bold steps to increase domestic energy production and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We can do that by tapping all potential domestic energy sources – renewable energy, nuclear energy, oil, natural gas and clean coal.

That is why Farm Bureau will urge the new Congress to not renew a decades-old ban on drilling for domestic oil and natural gas in certain areas. In a response to increase the nation’s supply of oil, President Bush lifted the ban on offshore drilling this summer, but there is talk in Washington that the next Congress and President-elect Barack Obama may restore the ban.

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House and author of the new book “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less,” says America is suffering from an artificial energy crisis that is also a dangerous national security crisis. In a recent speech, he said the crisis is artificial because America is gifted with enormous reserves of energy; the crisis is dangerous because it makes America vulnerable to unreliable and potentially hostile countries.

An ICF International study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimates that lifting drilling restrictions in the Outer Continental Shelf off U.S. shores, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and federal land in the Rockies, would increase production of non-imported crude oil by 36 percent by 2030, with production of clean burning natural gas rising 10 percent. That comes out to about 2 million additional barrels of oil and 5.3 billion extra cubic feet of natural gas per day, which could replace 20 percent of U.S. oil imports and 61 percent of expected natural gas imports.

Accessing these resources would bring the United States much closer to true energy independence. When added to already accessible deposits on federal land, increased drilling would generate an estimated $4 trillion in royalties over the life of the operations, according to API. This is money that will stay at home, strengthening our nation’s economy. Moreover, if the drilling ban is lifted, 160,000 jobs would be created by 2030. In addition, lifting the ban could generate $1.7 trillion in government revenue.

The recent dramatic drop in oil prices should not make us complacent about America’s energy future. Economists agree that today’s low oil prices are tied to the recession and prices will likely dramatically rebound when it ends. World oil supplies remain tight. Oil companies are scaling back on expansions and new projects until economic conditions improve.

Oil and gas exploration is a very expensive, long-term process fraught with a myriad of roadblocks and regulations. But in order to ensure America’s long-term energy security, we must start developing new domestic oil and gas reserves. Congress and President-elect Obama should not restore drilling bans that keep America’s untapped energy reserves off limits and out-of-reach.