On the eve of the first anniversary of the blowout that sank President Barack Obama's oil and gas development plan, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich has proposed a new office to put that plan back on track.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- the worst in U.S. history -- came just weeks after Obama's call to open areas off the East Coast and Alaska's Arctic shore to oil and gas exploration, even as he kept other sensitive areas closed.

The rig blast killed 11 workers, and the resultant spill fouled Gulf waters and shores. Arctic drilling -- most particularly Shell's plans for exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas -- was iced.

A year later, the president seems to be warming again to Alaska's Arctic potential. He's called for increasing domestic production and cutting oil imports and mentioned Alaska in a speech to that effect last month.

Begich repeated a familiar refrain on Monday -- Shell's plans for exploratory drilling in the Beaufort are still held up by a clean-air appeal within the Environmental Protection Agency, and Conoco Phillips has seen a field expansion go begging for lack of a bridge permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to span the Colville River into the National Petroleum Reserve.

Begich wants a federal coordinator to expedite the permitting process for Outer Continental Shelf projects. He wants to provide industry with a predictable path to development.

This is not a ticket to "drill, baby, drill." But it is an end to open-ended delays and litigation that can turn leases to wishes and process to purgatory.

Foes of Arctic drilling fear a spill in such remote, challenging yet fragile areas. Some Alaska Natives and others worry about the potential loss of subsistence wildlife and disruption of natural cycles in their lives. These fears are legitimate. Local knowledge and expertise -- and local participation -- in decisions about where and how to drill are essential. But fear can't be crippling.

Alaska's economy will be stronger with increased oil and gas production. The nation's economy and foreign policy will be stronger with increased domestic energy production. To become more self-sufficient in energy, the United States needs to produce -- not recklessly, but to the highest environmental and safety standards on the planet. Doing it right is harder, more time consuming and more expensive up front. But in the end, doing it right is smarter, safer and more profitable than a rush to drill.

Begich also has proposed legislation to increase Arctic field research and monitoring while exploration goes on. Drilling foes argue that exploration should wait for such studies to be complete. But that's the catch -- such studies are never complete.

Shell and other companies know plenty about working in the Arctic. None would claim to know everything. Both producers and regulators should use the knowledge they have and continue to learn as they explore.

Alaska's senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, earlier this year summed up a smart U.S. energy policy in a few words: "Produce more, use less." We need to work both sides of the equation, but we can't produce more if the answer is always no.