Fresh from a trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over the weekend, House Minority Leader John Boehner promised to “use every option we have” to force votes on energy production, including a showdown over the Sept. 30 expiration of the off-shore drilling ban.

Boehner came out swinging at Democrats this afternoon. “We will use every option we have to force votes in the House,” Boehner said at a press lunch sponsored by The American Spectator and Americans for Tax Reform. “Democrats have done everything humanly possible to avoid making their members vote.”

Boehner’s aggressive strategy means Republicans are likely to up the ante when it comes to the Sept. 30 expiration of the federal off-shore drilling ban. Congressional Democrats need to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, and included in it will be an extension of the 27-year-old off-shore drilling ban.

“I do believe the [continuing resolution] is an option that is available to us,” Boehner said. Roll Call ($) reported today that if congressional Republicans are unsuccessful in that effort, President Bush could veto the bill, forcing a government shutdown. The last government shutdown came in the mid-1990s after the GOP took control of Congress. Just as that wounded the newly elected Republican majority, conservatives view this issue as a potential disaster for Democrats.

“The No. 1 is going to be energy. It has been energy and it will continue to be energy,” Boehner told the group of conservative journalists and bloggers. “There is a lot of unanimity on our side. And the Democrats have been blocking it.”

Boehner’s trip over the weekend with 10 Republicans to a renewable energy lab in Colorado and the North Slope of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge kept the focus on energy production, which has energized the GOP base like few other issues this year.

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