Government-Mandated Energy Conservation is Unnecessary and Wastful, Study Finds    Washington, DC -- The energy tax and subsidized energy-efficiency   measures supported by President Clinton and Energy Secretary Hazel   O'Leary are based on faulty assumptions, a new study from the Cato   Institute points out.      According to Jerry Taylor, Cato's director of natural resource studies,   we are not running out of sources of energy. The world now has almost 10   times the proven oil reserves it had in 1950 and twice the reserves of   1970. Proven reserves of coal and natural gas have increased just as   dramatically.      When standards of living, population densities, and industrial   structures are controlled for, the United States is no less energy   efficient than Japan and more energy efficient than many of the Group   of Seven nations.      Energy independence provides little protection against domestic oil   price shocks because the energy economy is global. Moreover, since the   cost of oil represents only about 2 percent of gross national product,   even large increases in the price of oil would have little impact on the   overall U.S. economy.      Market economies are, on average, 2.75 times more energy efficient per   $1,000 of GNP than are centrally planned economies.      Utilities' subsidized energy-efficiency measurs, known as demand-side   management programs, encourage free riders, overuse of competing resource   inputs, an competitive inequities. Furthermore, DSM programs do not   reduce demand.      Taylor concludes that government-mandated energy conservation imposes   unnecessary costs on consumers and wastes, not conserves, energy; that   subsidizing energy-conservation technologies will stymie, not advance,   gains in energy conservation; and that central control over the lifeblood   of modern society--energy--would transfer tremendous power to the state   at the expense of the individual.      "Energy Conservation and Efficiency: The Case Against Coercion" is no.   189 in the Policy Analysis series published by the Cato Institute, an   independent public policy research organization in Washington, DC.    Available from:   Cato Institute   224 Second Street SE   Washington, DC  20003    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------                             The Cato Institute      Founded in 1977, the Cato Institute is a public policy research   foundation dedicated to broadening the parameters of policy debate   to allow consideration of more options that are consistent with the   traditional American principles of limited government, individual   liberty, and peace.  To that end, the Institute strives to achieve   greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in    questions of policy and the proper role of government.     The Institute is named for Cato's Letters, libertarian pamphlets   that were widely read in the American Colonies in the early 18th   century and played a major role in laying the philosophical foundation   of the American Revolution.     Despite the achievement of the nation's Founders, today virtually   no aspect of life is free from government encroachment.  A pervasive   intolerance for individual rights is shown by government's arbitrary   intrusions into private economic transactions and its disregard for   civil liberties.     To counter that trend the Cato Institute undertakes an extensive   publications program that addresses the complete spectrum of policy   issues.  Books, monographs, and shorter studies are commissioned   to examine the federal budget, Social Security, regulation, military   spending, international trade, and myriad other issues.  Major policy   conferences are held throughout the year, from which papers are   published thrice yearly in the Cato Journal.     In order to maintain its independence, the Cato Institute accepts   no government funding.  Contributions are received from foundations,   corporations, and individuals, and other revenue is generated from   the sale of publications.  The Institute is a nonprofit, tax-exempt,   educational foundation under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue   Code.