Al Gore yesterday challenged the US to commit to ending the use of fossil fuels for the generation of electricity within the next decade.

Likening the goal to President Kennedy's 1961 commitment to put a man on the moon, the former vice president insisted that the target was attainable and would help bolster US security.

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet," Gore said. "Every bit of that has got to change."

In a wide-ranging speech at an event organised by the Alliance for Climate Protection, Gore also called for a carbon tax to help drive the transition towards cleaner forms of energy. He said that such a tax could be offset by a reduction in the rate of income tax, arguing that "we should tax what we burn, not what we earn".

He also criticised plans to expand domestic oil drilling - a topic that has emerged as an issue in the presidential race with John McCain signalling support for an increase in offshore drilling.

Citing former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Yamani's observation that "the Stone Age didn't end because of a shortage of stones", Gore insisted alternatives to fossil fuels had to be found.

"Even those who reap the profits of the carbon age have to recognise the inevitability of its demise," he said.

However, the message does not appear to have reached the federal government, which yesterday confirmed plans for expanded oil drilling in Alaska. The Bureau of Land Management said that it is to hold a major sale of oil and gas leases for areas of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). It is estimated that the leased areas could deliver 8.4bn barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.

The plans to drill in the NPR-A has been subject to numerous legal challenges from green groups, but the interior secretary insisted that the high price of oil made the exploitation of Alaskan oil fields necessary.

"The rapid increase in energy costs facing our nation is driven by a worldwide imbalance in energy supply and demand," he said. "Developing the NPR-A in an environmentally sound manner will contribute to our domestic oil and natural gas supplies. Together with new production from other offshore and onshore areas, these increased supplies will help stabilise energy costs."