LICATA: If you were elected president, what would be your No. 1  conservation goal? 
SENATOR OBAMA: I think the most important thing that the next president can do is establish a better working relationship between the federal government and the states, because what we've seen under the Bush administration is the ability of special interests, whether it's the oil companies or the gas companies or the coal companies or what have you,  to do end runs around the interests of hunters and sportsmen [and]conservationists in the states. [They] go to Washington, get certain regulations overwritten--for example, the watering down of the Clean Water Act--so that rules that had been in place for generations around  wetlands were suddenly eroded. Or the roadless forest  reserve, where suddenly you've got a change in administrative rules without much consultation. I think that people in the states know best  the importance of access to public lands, and we've got to restore some balance there.

LICATA: In your career, what is the conservation legislation that you're most proud of? 
SENATOR OBAMA: Well, I sat in the Environment and Public Works Committee  and had a range of legislation come before me. Probably the thing that  I'm most proud of is fighting off some of the efforts to diminish the Clean Air Act. That was a tough set of votes for me because I come from  a coal state. But some of the regulations that were put in place I think  would have had a long-term effect on our efforts to preserve our public  lands, and our private lands, as well.  When I was in the state legislature, I was a cosponsor of the Wetlands  Protection Act there. I worked extensively in efforts to create smart  growth strategies so that you didn't have subdivisions and development  constantly spreading out...working with others to try to encourage land  trusts and land preservation strategies, I think that's an area that has been very fruitful. But my overarching philosophy is that we have to be good stewards of the  land, and we've got to think in terms of sustainability. We're going to  have some development. I mean, there's going to be drilling.

LICATA: The current administration passed some executive orders that  made drilling and energy extraction the top priority for management of  federal lands. How do you override that legislation at a time when  people are clamoring for gas and looking for new sources of energy? 
SENATOR OBAMA: Look, you're absolutely right. Since 1999, the amount of  drilling on public lands has gone up 260 percent, and yet prices have  skyrocketed. And it indicates a basic truth, which is we're not going to drill our way out of these problems. This is something that I've consistently said. This is an area where I've got to disagree with both  the Bush administration and with John McCain. There are certain areas where drilling may be appropriate. North Dakota,  it looks like, may have new oil fields that have not been explored. And  for us to tap into areas...where there's not a big conservation impact,  no problem. ANWR, on the other hand, is a great example. This is our  last great wilderness refuge. And if we started tomorrow, we would not  see a drop of oil out of ANWR for a decade. And even at peak production,  experts estimate that it would have an impact of maybe 4 cents on a  gallon of gas. And that's 15, 20 years from now, when, who knows what  gas prices are going to be? Now, it's just not a smart strategy. [It's]  much better for us to think in terms of energy efficiency and, you know, exploit the  resources that we have when they are accessible and when the trade-offs  are such where we're not destroying land that we want to pass on to the  next generation.