Congressional candidate Sydney Hay: Campaign photo1st Congressional District Republican candidate Sydney Hay today unveiled her "plan for energy independence," a five-point policy that calls for increased domestic oil exploration, expansion of refineries, new nuclear power plants, investment in clean coal technology and an alternative energy tax credit.

At the same time, the Arizona Democratic Party is stepping up attacks against the leading Republican in the field, saying her stance that the U.S. may need to keep troops in Iraq "past 2010."

"Congress has failed us in the area of energy and has tied America's hands when it comes to providing for our energy needs," wrote Hay in the statement announcing the plan.

"This dependency must end. While we have elected some true statesmen who are fighting the good fight, our nation has been made vulnerable to the whims of foreign dictators by hyper-partisanship in Congress. This defies reason.

"This failure by elected representatives under Nancy Pelosi is another reason why my campaign for Congress is really a campaign against Congress."

Hay is calling for the immediate opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, the employment of "new, cleaner technologies" in coal production, eventually expanding nuclear power to provide 50 percent of the nation's electricity needs and making alternative energy companies exempt from federal taxes.

Read the full text of the plan.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Democratic Party is going after Hay on a different policy point: Iraq.

The Democrats put out a press release saying Hay's position "will cost Arizona families," linking Hay to Bush and pointing out that the Iraq War has cost the 1st district $900 million, according to statistics from the National Priorities Project.

"How much more do Arizona taxpayers need to spend in Iraq before Sydney Hay stops supporting President George Bush's stay-the-course policy?" wrote Emily DeRose, spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party. "The Hay-Bush plan for a never-ending war will cost Arizona families hundreds of millions of dollars and come at the expense of affordable health care, education and housing for our children and families. Instead of spending taxpayers' money in Iraq, Sydney Hay should support investing in America."