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MARCH 20, 2001

As California for the first time since January resumed rolling power blackouts set to affect more than 1 million consumers, President George W. Bush and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on Monday warned of a greater energy crisis facing the entire nation.

"We're not generating enough gasoline to meet demands." Bush told reporters at his energy task force meeting yesterday. "We're not building enough power-generating plants to meet demand and we're beginning to pay the price. And America has got to understand that energy is an issue and we're going to deal with it."

But just how the administration will address the issue is a tricky one, even as Bush and Abraham acknowledge. At a speech earlier in the day to the US Chamber of Commerce, Abraham pointed out that pessimistic predictions made earlier this century about limited oil supplies proved false -- just as he issued his own dire warnings about the future of the country.

"The good news, I think, is that America's energy problems can be solved," he said. "The bad news is that the situation in California is not isolated, is not temporary, and it will not fix itself. America faces a major energy supply crisis over the next two decades."

Abraham then presented his own Department's "conservative" estimates about the nation's future energy needs and said demand over the next 20 years would increase by 45 percent. The statistic appeared to fly in the face of Bush's take on the issue: "The energy crisis we're in is a supply-and-demand issue and we need to reduce demand and increase supply."

If anything, Bush and Abraham's pronunciations indicate that Vice President Dick Cheney, the head of the task force, has a lot more work to do to solidify the administration's long-term energy plan. Along with other Cabinet members, including Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, Cheney will propose a comprehensive plan to boost domestic oil, natural gas, and coal supplies.

Although not yet finalized, it will include a number of controversial proposals. In addition to the Gwich'in Alaska Natives, a large number of Democrat and some Republican lawmakers oppose efforts to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling.

Drilling supporters include an Alaska Native corporation, the oil industry, and the administration. Norton and J. Steven Griles, Bush's pick for Undersecretary of Interior, both advocate for drilling, and Abraham yesterday said development could occur without harming the environment.

"[E]xploration would impact only about 2,000 acres out of more than 19 million," he said. "And as for the caribou, the herd in Prudhoe Bay grew more than ninefold over the past 20 years to an estimated 28,000 in the year 2000, seemingly irrefutable evidence that caribou mating and oil exploration can peacefully co-exist."

The energy plan will also most likely include tapping previously protected public lands, which Norton and Bush have been hinting at for several weeks. One area targeted is the Overthrust Belt, a part of the Rocky Mountains which includes the Lewis and Clark National Forest, currently off limits to development but which borders the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, where the the US Geological Survey says oil and gas fields exist.

Get Yesterday's Remarks:
Bush to Media on National Energy Policy (eMediaMillWorks 3/19)
Abraham to US Chamber of Commerce on National Energy Policy (eMediaMillWorks 3/19)

Relevant Links:
Oil Issues in ANWR, US Fish and Wildlife - http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.html
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife Service - http://arctic.fws.gov
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Pro-Development site - http://www.anwr.org

Related Stories:
Bush vows change in lands attitude (Enviro 3/14)
Energy pal named to Interior post (Politics 3/9)
GOP Senators unveil drilling proposal (Enviro 2/27)
Norton makes case for Arctic drilling (Enviro 02/13)