A national energy policy is needed to help secure new energy sources, supply lines to customers, avoid outages, encourage conservation, reduce dependence on foreign oil, insure stable prices, and prevent an energy crisis from occurring. The Bush administration, under the direction of Vice President Cheney, began formulating a policy on January 29, shortly after the new president took office. This action was predictable since electricity problems in California, a Democrat Party stronghold and highly environmentally oriented state, were continuing and had been a subject in the presidential debates. The electric rates in many other states increased as a result of the California shortages which most experts attribute to the environmental activists that help delay or ban the construction of electric generating plants. High oil prices (OPEC controlled) and natural gas (shortage) were subjects of the debates, where Vice President Gore took a conservation /renewable approach and George Bush focused more on increasing supply.
Is there a real "energy Crisis" in America? One would have to say yes, when the only short-term solution to the California problem is for the Federal Government (taxpayers) to pay their electric bills. When our own restrictions have closed 36 oil refineries in the last 8 years and no new refineries have been constructed, I would have to say yes. When the United States has to import over 50% of its oil at world prices, mostly controlled by OPEC, it is easy to see how we could be held hostage by OPEC, and I would have to say yes. When the world's largest oil supplier, Saudi Arabia, is being threatened by Bin Laden, again I would say yes.
The Democrats are questioning meetings that Vice President Cheney had with many groups to formulate the Presidents oil policy. Most people probably don't realize that our government does not finance oil and gas drilling.