The forthcoming National Energy Strategy has been prominent in Washington's thoughts on energy issues in recent months, as evidenced by this collection of miscellaneous quotations.
Robert Lieber, chairman of Georgetown University's government department, thinks the nation has avoided tough energy decisions too long. "It is not enough to leave energy policy to the marketplace. Energy policy has been unfocused. We need a much more formal, coherent government response to what is going on."
NO MORE BACK SEAT
Daniel Yergin, Cambridge Energy Research Associates president, said, "Until Aug. 2 (when Iraq invaded Kuwait), energy considerations were very much taking a back seat to environmental concerns. But as a result of this new crisis, energy security concerns have risen again to the top of the agenda, and the U.S. has no obvious political mechanism for resolving the competing values and concerns."
Energy Sec. James Watkins hopes the NES will change that. "Our de facto energy policy has been, essentially, to follow the path of least resistance. Judging from experience, an Energy Department strategy will not succeed. Nor will a federal energy strategy. On the other hand, a national energy strategy might."
Robert Steward, National Ocean Industries president, said the NES had better live up to its billing as a first class, well balanced proposal "or it could go to Capitol Hill and get greeted with the biggest ho-hum you've ever seen in your life."
Rep. Bob Wise (D-W.Va.) warned not to expect the NES to be the last word from Congress on the subject of energy policy. ,You'll never get a 'once and for all' decision on any issue from Congress. What you get is a slowly emerging consensus."
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) is troubled that despite the crisis in the Middle East "there hasn't been a pressing demand by the American public to do anything about energy policy." And he hopes the NES will promote leasing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: "I think most people would rather develop ANWR than send 350,000 Americans into harm's way in the Middle East."
Nick Bush, Natural Gas Supply Association president, hopes the NES will promote programs to increase demand for natural gas. "While natural gas is thought well of and spoken well of, it is not bought well enough.
"We as an industry haven't done the things required to make sure gas demand is going to grow. We just seem to sit around and wait for the weather to get cold."
NO YIELDING ON ANWR
Charles DiBona, American Petroleum Institute president, does not see environmental groups yielding on ANWR, no matter how persuasive the arguments for development. "The environmental organizations desperately need to be in continual conflict with government in order to get contributions from the public.
"So no matter what the administration does to meet them half way, they will not cooperate."
And although he doesn't expect any help from the NES, a major concern for Rep. Billy Tauzin (D-La.) is the steadily eroding Louisiana shoreline. He laments, "Before long, the only constituents living in my district will be offshore oil workers and fish."
Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
