That's largely because few Americans have thought much about the problem since the last gas lines disappeared 20 years ago. Indeed, it's telling that, instead of discussing conservation, both Bush and his critics are increasingly talking about energy efficiency. That formulation implies engineering strategies rather than lifestyle changes to reduce consumption. With technology, there's no reason why . Looming over these political and rhetorical calculations is the ghost of President Carter, whose administration was plagued by repeated energy shocks in the late 1970s.
Today strategists on both sides agree that the public is even less inclined to sacrifice.
On several fronts, it appears the demand for bigger energy-intensive products is offsetting the efficiency gains of improved technology. In an April study, the National Assn. of Home Builders concluded that because of such innovations as greater use of insulated windows and more efficient furnaces, new homes today use energy twice as efficiently as they did 30 years ago. In the first years after the 1970s oil shock, average fuel efficiency for all passenger vehicles in America steadily increased, peaking at 25.9 miles per gallon in 1987. Some analysts think both sides are selling the public short by exempting them from sacrifice in the growing energy debate.