I was pleased that President Bush used his State of the Union address to point out that our current addiction to foreign oil is a matter of national security. I could not agree more. It is past time that we politicians drop the rhetoric and take decisive action.

The fact that 60 percent of the oil we consume is imported represents a vast transfer of wealth away from the pocketbooks of Americans. Worse, more than 30 percent of our imported oil comes from countries that have been — or may soon be — hostile to the interests of the United States.

The surge in world oil prices is not market-driven. It only costs $5 per barrel to produce oil in the Middle East. When the OPEC nations meet, in effect, they decide how much to tax us.

It is foolish to allow this situation to continue. The United States should not be held hostage to the ebb and flow of international politics.

While there is no simple solution to the problem, it is not rocket science either. There are three areas of critical importance where I believe great progress can be made.

First, we must increase domestic production of oil and natural gas by allowing exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on Outer Continental Shelf lands where huge reserves exist.

A recently released draft five-year Outer Continental Shelf leasing plan recommends opening a portion of the Gulf of Mexico to leasing. While environmental activists have unwisely fought to block production as far as 150 miles off the Florida coast, the truth is that neither Hurricane Katrina nor Rita resulted in a single significant oil spill in the Gulf. Meanwhile, Florida is happy to have natural gas produced off the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana so that it can be piped across the gulf from Mobile to Tampa.

Second, we should take steps now to encourage the conservation and efficient use of oil, gas and other energy sources. That is why I joined with a bipartisan group of 11 of my colleagues to introduce the Vehicles and Fuel Choices for American Security Act to move this important debate forward.

Our legislation would require the U.S. government to find ways to reduce our consumption by 2.5 million barrels per day by 2016, require that half of all cars manufactured in the United States be alternative-fuel vehicles and provide tax credits and loan guarantees to auto manufactures to retool their factories to build more efficient vehicles.

In addition to those provisions, our bill would boost the ethanol-infrastructure tax credit and make ethanol available at gas stations across the country. With this in mind, I was pleased that President Bush noted that we now have the ability to create ethanol not just from corn but also from wood chips, pulp and switch grass. Researchers from Auburn University believe that a single acre of switch grass, a hardy native vegetation, has the ability to produce over 1,000 gallons of ethanol annually. We should focus on accelerating as fast as possible the technology and infrastructure that will make ethanol a much larger part of our energy mix.

Finally, as we transfer our transportation sector away from fossil fuels, we must support research and development of advanced technologies such as nuclear energy, clean coal and hydrogen power that will provide our long-term answers. Nuclear power, already responsible for 20 percent of the electricity we use in the United States, has been on hold for too long — 30 years, in fact. It has the potential to be our primary source of clean electricity. France, for example, generates almost 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 contained several measures to expand nuclear power, and I am greatly encouraged that since its passage the number of new nuclear permit applications submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has already surged from zero to 18.

One thing is certain: Our nation is dangerously reliant on foreign sources of energy, and we cannot allow this situation to continue. Our nation’s security and economic strength are dependent on affordable energy. Wise public policy can speed up our transition to domestic sources that do not drain our national wealth and do not leave us vulnerable.

Sessions is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.