Republican Melissa Hart yesterday took aim at the energy record of the man who unseated her from Congress, painting incumbent Democrat Jason Altmire as an acolyte of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a reliable vote against increased domestic oil drilling.

Holding a news conference outside a gas station in the 4th Congressional District, Ms. Hart criticized Mr. Altmire for voting against drilling in the Alaska Northwest wilderness area -- in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or ANWR -- as well as accelerated offshore exploration.

"He just followed Nancy Pelosi's line before he got permission from her, basically, to change his rhetoric," said Ms. Hart, who was joined by U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the Republican National Congressional Committee, who pledged support for Ms. Hart's efforts to regain the seat she lost two years ago.

"She's one of our top candidates. Believe me, her colleagues want her back," Mr. Cole said.

In June, Mr. Altmire voted in favor of increased offshore drilling and called on oil companies to exploit more than 68 million acres in existing leases on government lands other than the wildlife refuge.

"These inactive leases could produce nearly double the current level of domestic oil production and more than six times the estimated peak production that ANWR would provide 20 years from now," he said.

Yesterday, responding to Ms. Hart's remarks, Mr. Altmire issued a statement distancing himself from Ms. Pelosi and calling attention to his push for increased offshore drilling.

"I led the charge to push Speaker Pelosi to schedule a September vote on opening up the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, and I am going to keep fighting to ensure Congress pursues every viable solution to America's energy crisis," Mr. Altmire said.

"This should include not only opening up new areas for drilling, but also investing in coal, nuclear and other forms of alternative energy that can end our costly addiction to foreign oil."

The debate over oil, coming on the heels of a summer of $4-a-gallon gasoline, marks one of Ms. Hart's efforts to dislodge the man who unseated her after three terms that included a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Cole predicted that the 4th District would likely attract a large turnout in favor of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, providing coattails onto which Ms. Hart could latch.

Two years ago, she went down to defeat in the wake of massive voter dissatisfaction with the policies of President Bush and the ongoing war in Iraq.