Senator Jim DeMint and Representative Jeb Hensarling have launched a new website, Energy Freedom Day. It counts down the minutes — seconds, actually — until present moratoria on drilling in the OCS and in shale formations expire. Both men appear in their video announcement of the new site:

DeMint writes at his blog:

Dear Senators Reid and McConnell:

It is our hope that Democrats and Republicans will stand together to support American Energy Freedom Day on October 1, 2008. On this day, the current prohibitions on oil and gas exploration off the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in the oil-shale fields of the West will expire, giving Americans the freedom to access their own energy and providing them with relief from sky-high prices at the pump.

We strongly encourage you to allow the expiration of these prohibitions on American energy exploration and production, as scheduled under current law, and we will actively oppose any attempt to extend them. Now is not the time to deny Americans access to their own energy supply.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with you to ensure a victory for the American people on American Energy Freedom Day.

You can add your name to this petition at Energy Freedom Day. Keep track of how long we have until America’s energy resources are freed from an arbitrary obstruction that sends hundreds of billions of dollars overseas and puts us at the mercy of foreign producers.