Energy Non-Policy

Sure, it’s cynical to attach an otherwise unpassable bill to the federal budget resolution. In the case of permitting oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it’s bad budgeting as well. The resolution projects that oil leases will be auctioned at unheard-of prices. Worse, it marks a larger failure to create an energy policy that would honestly lead to less dependence on foreign oil. The measure hangs today on whether the Senate dares to separate Arctic drilling from the budget.

The administration’s policy has consisted of “dig, drill, explore.” Because most of that expected exploration would be in Western wild lands and the oceans, this makes for sad environmental news. Moreover, putting all our energy expectations into an ever-drier store of domestic oil sets the stage for more dependence on volatile foreign sources later.

A study published last year says such policy rests future prosperity on ever-shakier ground. Instead, the country could largely wean itself of foreign oil dependence within a few decades through conservation and new technologies, including ultralight hybrid vehicles and more efficiently made ethanol and similar fuel sources. The report -- conducted by the respected Rocky Mountain Institute, funded in part by the Pentagon and written for business and military leaders -- predicts that prosperity will belong to businesses that dare to create new markets instead of catering to existing ones.

The administration is insisting that extending oil and gas leases off the California coast wouldn’t lead to environmental harm, and is pushing to drill in the Alaska refuge, where the government’s own scientists have determined that at best there is less than a year’s worth of U.S. oil needs. This serves neither short-term demand -- the refuge’s oil wouldn’t be available for more than a decade -- nor long-term national policy.

It would be better, in the short term, to induce reopening of closed refineries because much of the recent swing in gasoline prices is caused by the lack of refinery capacity. Also, the government should give consumers incentives to buy efficient cars and should require modestly better vehicle fuel efficiency, which would save far more oil than the refuge could yield. The administration could nurture innovation -- like California’s initiative to encourage new-home solar installations -- with tax incentives. There’s more to keeping the nation fueled than what can be found under its preserves and coastal waters.