U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan debated energy Sunday.

In duel editorials in the Greenville Daily Reflector, the Salisbury Republican and the Greensboro Democrat outlined their respective policy approaches to high gas prices.

Dole called for a "kitchen sink" strategy: Conservation, alternative energy research, more drilling in Alaska, allowing exploration for drilling off North Carolina's coast, more exploration of oil shale drilling, releasing a third of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and investigating market fraud.

"At a time when North Carolina families are getting hammered by skyrocketing gas prices, we need a comprehensive approach to secure our energy future," she wrote.

Hagan blamed oil companies and called for: Halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increasing pressure on OPEC to boost supply, cracking down on speculators in oil futures, repealing tax breaks for oil companies and investing in renewable energy projects in North Carolina.

"It's not too late to turn this around but we need to stop posturing and start pursuing real relief for middle class families in both the long and short term," she wrote.

Gov. Mike Easley called today for energy independence.

At a speech at the Emerging Issues Forum, he said that OPEC and other oil-producing countries have the United States "by the tail."

"I'm tired of being wagged, and I think it's time we did something about it," he said.

He said tax credits for alternative energy and increased efficiency already in place are helping. But he also painted a picture of a future with plug-in hybrid cars powered by home electricity and grids across the state run by Duke Power and Progress Energy.

"It sounds like the Jetsons to you doesn't it?" he said. "Well, Israel is going to do this by 2011."

He said that battery-powered automobiles, such as one he recently test drove, would create American jobs and reduce spending sent to foreign countries that are sometimes hostile.

Easley then announced that the state would start an advanced transportation energy center at N.C. State University in partnership with Progress and Duke to build lighter, cheaper and more efficient batteries. He said General Motors may also join in the center.

He said that the power companies are also working to start the electric grid to power the cars.

"By the time the battery is ready, the grid will be in place," he said. 

Richard Moore unveiled an energy plan today.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate called for promoting alternative fuels and energy sources, the state government more efficient and improve mass transit.

To promote alternative energy, Moore called for making the state government a leading consumer of alternative fuels, reforming utility rates to encourage conservation, encouraging research and condcuting long-range planning on energy generation.

He also said he would improve the energy efficiency of state buildings.

"The time to begin planning for a cleaner energy future is now," he said in a statement. "We can become a national leader in conservation and alternative energy, creating new businesses and an agricultural model that will ensure the prosperity of rural North Carolina for years to come."

Previously: Moore convenes global warming panel.

Jim Neal has started a diary on the Daily Kos.

The Democratic senatorial candidate second post blames the "out-of-touch, inside-the-Beltway impotency of the Bush Administration" for economic problems.

"For the past 6 years, their single-minded focus on fighting the war on terror has left our economic security in the hands of special interest forces and the market economy," he writes.

He calls for investing in alternative energy, creating universal health care, expanding microloan programs and investing in college education.

Neal is not the only North Carolina Democrat on Markos Moulitsas Zúniga's progressive blog site. U.S. Rep. Brad Miller and Congressional candidate Marshall Adame also have diaries.