As Congress, Wall Street and the American public debate the merits of using $700 billion (or more) in taxpayer money to shore up a crumbling banking industry, many people have offered putative solutions. Rep. Michele Bachmann–stop her if you’ve heard this one before–wants to open up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Bachmann has been on a months-long crusade to open more oil drilling around the United States, a crusade critics say would have little practical impact on gas prices at the pump.

Bachmann writes:

“Faced with a looming bail-out of the financial sector hovering around the $700 billion dollar mark, I’ve signed a letter written by Congressman Joe Barton (Ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee) urging the President to consider opening up ANWR and the Eastern Gulf of the OCS to improve our energy security, lower energy prices, and provide needed revenue to the Treasury to help shoulder the burden the bail-out will place on the American taxpayer.”

At the best estimate, the government stands to make $191 billion in revenues over the next 30 years by opening up ANWR and the outer continental shelf to oil drilling.

Meanwhile, oil prices increased by a record amount Monday, driven mainly by speculation and the short squeeze loophole in commodities trading.

“No war threat, pipeline leak, ship wreck – nothing, yet up goes oil nearly $25 a barrel,” said Tim Hamilton, a petroleum industry consultant told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Perhaps speculation is a greater factor than actual supply and demand.”