Vice President Al Gore shot back that former oilman Bush just wanted to let oil companies "invade precious natural treasures like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."

With winter approaching and fuel prices high, energy politics took center stage in the battle for the White House with dueling speeches by the two presidential candidates.

It was the second time in two days that Bush and Gore spoke on identical issues -- on Thursday it was the economy -- in a preview of lines likely to be heard in Tuesday's first presidential debate.

Bush stood at a lectern on the concrete work floor of the Wright-K Technology manufacturing and engineering plant in Saginaw. Gore spoke from the woodsy preserve of the Audubon Society just outside Washington.

The Texas governor said Gore "believes the consumption of energy is the problem and must be discouraged by taxes and regulations. It helps explain why he has never made energy production a priority. It is the reason he views American oil producers as adversaries and the automobile as a threat."

Bush said the United States imports 56 percent of its oil, more than ever before, and "our production is dropping. Our imports of foreign oil are skyrocketing. And this administration has failed to act. As a result, America more than ever is at the mercy of foreign government and cartels -- at the mercy of big foreign oil."

To increase supplies, he urged opening 1.5 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, which experts say could yield possibly 10 billion barrels of oil.

Bush said the Energy Department should review other restricted federal lands to see if they, too, could be opened for oil and gas exploration. And he said he would streamline federal regulations to encourage more refining capacity and pipeline construction.

He also proposed tax credits and other congressional legislation to encourage alternative fuels, reduce pollution from coal burning and help poor people pay for fuel to heat their homes. In all, his plan would cost $7.1 billion, his campaign said, with about $3 billion offset by fees and royalties charged to energy companies.

Gore rejected Bush's approach. "We don't have to degrade our environment in order to secure our energy future," the vice president said. "And that is one of the most important differences in this election."

"The other side now proposes to misuse high oil prices as an excuse to let oil companies invade precious natural treasures like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," the vice president said. "If you entrust me with the presidency, I will not let that happen."

Contrasting his vision with Bush's, Gore endorsed development of alternative energy sources and technologies aimed at producing cleaner cars and trucks that can travel 80 miles on a gallon of gasoline. "But we'll never get there," he said, "if we're weighed down by old-fashioned energy policies and held back by those who want to put short-term profits over the long-term interests of our economy and our families."

Gore defended his call to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help homeowners beset by soaring heating costs. He said President Clinton's decision to release the oil already has lowered prices about $5 a barrel, to $32. But he also said the nation must cut its dependence on oil.

"We don't have to build our lives around a fuel source that is distant, uncertain and too easily manipulated," he told the Audubon Society audience.

Bush said that tapping the stockpile was "a calculated political move" that leaves America "even more vulnerable to foreign suppliers, including Saddam Hussein," the president of Iraq. Bush said every barrel of oil taken from the reserve "is one less barrel we have for threats to our security."

A background paper released by his campaign said some 7 percent of America's imported oil comes from Iraq. Despite a U.N. embargo, Iraq has been allowed to sell fuel on the world market in a program to provide money for food.

Bush also has proposed: