It all depends on how he handles it. Bush can likely escape lasting political damage if he can convince the country he is working hard to help Americans fill their gas tanks, keep their lights on and cool their homes - and if his policy eventually works. Yet if he appears to be too much against the environment and too much on the side of the oil and gas industry at a time it already is enjoying record profits, he risks losing touch with the people. If his policy ultimately fails to ease a crisis, his presidency could go the way of Jimmy Carter, the man in the Oval Office the last time Americans faced soaring fuel costs and energy shortages. That was a major factor in Carter's defeat for re-election in 1980.
Symbols are important.
He could turn down his own thermostat. Bush also could point to the energy-saving designs like geothermal water heating and passive solar room heating at his own recently built ranch home in Crawford, Texas. He agrees that the country should be more efficient. But he did not suggest that he would propose requiring higher gas mileage in popular but gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. Bush also appears reluctant to force Americans to conserve.