The Teamsters union adopted a resolution at its convention in Las Vegas this week calling for a comprehensive national energy policy.

The resolution, one of many to come out of the convention, calls for an energy policy that includes:

• Opening a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration in an environmentally sensitive manner;

• Raising regulatory barriers that have prevented the construction of additional refinery capacity for the past 10 years;

• Building at least 1,200 new power plants using a wide array of fuels, including clean coal, nuclear energy and natural gas;

• Finalizing the approval and construction of a nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nev.;

• Overhauling and expanding existing energy transmission infrastructure, including the construction of a natural gas pipeline;

• Supporting investment in alternative energy sources that involve real and potential Teamster member employment;

• Supporting the use of supplies and materials for such projects that are made by union-represented employees in the U.S. and Canada; and

• Protecting the rights of energy consumers through strict enforcement of price-gouging prohibitions.