We like energy. Our energy industry pals say we need more energy. They're our kind of people. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, most of the Rocky Mountains and the eastern Gulf of Mexico might be full of gas and oil. Global warming is not our problem.
Conservation is for wimps.
This frat-boy plan would not seem so outlandish if it had been authored by Bart Simpson. But so far, real leadership on a balanced approach to energy use and the future remains sorely lacking by our federal stewards in Washington. No question, the country needs more power plants to expand its electricity capacity. President Bush in March reversed a campaign pledge made in September, saying he will not regulate power plants' emissions of carbon dioxide, which scientists say contributes to global warming. The U.S. offshore oil and gas industry, emboldened by the sympathetic Bush administration, on Monday called for the lifting of a moratorium that prevents it from drilling in federal waters off most of the nation's coast.