Wanted: More Candor on Energy Policy

According to Interior Secretary Gale Norton (letter, Aug. 19), “The administration has not called for the opening up of Western lands for energy exploration. We have not called for energy exploration in any of the national monuments proclaimed in the final months of the previous administration.”

Norton’s Interior Department made numerous recommendations to Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force in support of reducing environmental safeguards on public lands to accommodate more oil and gas development on these lands. The Bush administration’s national energy policy called on Norton to “examine land status and lease stipulation impediments to federal oil and gas leasing.” The Interior Department has underway a review of these “impediments.” President Bush himself stated in March that “there are parts of the monument lands where we can explore without affecting the overall environment.” This and statements by Norton led to votes in the House and Senate earlier this year prohibiting Norton from issuing oil and gas leases in any of the new national monuments.

More candor on the part of key administration officials regarding the administration’s actual intentions with respect to its environmental and energy policies and the interests it intends to serve in promoting these policies might help begin repairing the damage to its credibility with the public on these important issues.

David Alberswerth

The Wilderness Society

Washington