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As President Obama becomes more determined to tap the nation’s emergency oil reserves, Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) is asking him to couple that policy with a long-term solution to counter market instability and rising gas prices.

“Mr. President, our nation cannot afford to rely on reserves each time there is a disruption if it is not coupled with an increase in domestic supply,” Gardner wrote in a letter to the President.

Gardner advocates for a policy that would trigger an increase in leases to drill for oil on public land anytime there is a drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR). He has authored a bill, H.R. 4480, which will do just that, and it is headed to the House floor for a vote.

H.R. 4480 in no way limits the President’s ability to tap the SPR in the event of an emergency. It simply says if the President draws down the SPR, a plan must be in place to ensure the ability to quickly explore and develop the nation’s energy resources.

Click HERE to read the letter, which was also signed by Rep. Ed Whitfield, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power.