Wasted Energy

Squeaking in under a midnight deadline Monday, the Energy Department stopped stonewalling and released 11,000 pages of documents relating to policy meetings. Federal judges had ordered the material handed over after a number of organizations, including The Times, asked to see it under the Freedom of Information Act.

The pages offer two major revelations: that Energy buys its Wite-Out by the gallon and that the Bush administration remains its own worst enemy.

The documents suggest that the Energy Department underestimated the number of meetings that Secretary Spencer Abraham had with industry groups. Department spokesmen had put the number at 30; it turns out to be at least 50.

There is nothing improper about Abraham tapping the expertise of oil, coal, nuclear and gas interests. And, despite environmentalists’ understandable rage at being snubbed, it would have been surprising had the documents shown that this administration, with its old school energy leanings, had given them equal time. But a little candor early on could have deflated critics’ uneasiness, if only by bringing into the open what most people already knew. Instead, the administration has offered foot-dragging and Wite-Out.

The administration can begin to repair its image--and the democratic process--by releasing the records of Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force meetings. The General Accounting Office is suing to obtain them. This time the White House shouldn’t wait for a court order; it should clear the air ahead of time.