It remains a mystery why the Bush Administration failed to make energy a campaign issue initiative, or, for that matter, why Democrats failed to propose ideas that actually have broad, non-partisan support in the public. Regardless, the issue is coming up now. Various articles are appearing in the trade press, the president mentioned the subject in his post-election press conference, and Democrats are mentioning it, too.
One of Ronald Reagan’s Energy Secretaries, Don Hodel, wrote in Human Events last week about how the late president would have addressed the issue. It’s well worth reading.
Also coming will be discussions of taxes and tax credits to affect demand. We think it is not necessary or desirable to stimulate the market artificially. As we have said in recent posts, there is a whole panoply of actions that can be taken, however, to increase domestic and North American oil and gas production and to promote conservation—including the plug-in hybrid car.