Energy and The Environment: A Sensible, 'No Regrets' Proposal

Abstract

America, it see ms, uses too much en erg y. Thus , th e govern m en t
pr ep ar es to issu e a new ro und of fed eral ene rgy efficienc y stand ar ds for
all m ann er of h ou sehold ap p lian ces. The Sierra Club insists th at the fed-
eral go ve rn me n t incr ease C orp orat e
Aver age Fuel Econ om y (CAFE) stan-
da rd s fo r a u to mo b iles an d truck s.
O the r gro ups pu sh electric car s.
Th e Clin ton Ad mi nis tration, for
its p a rt , wa n ts th e f ed e ral go v ern-
m ent to subs id ize the d e v elopment
and sa le of "alterna tive" energy tech-
n ologies, includin g solar pan els, and
is co nsi de r i ng n ew re gul ation s to
dri ve d o wn the use of fossil fuels. An
e nergy ta x was p rop osed five years
ago, w ith littl e success, so thi s tim e
othe r m ea sur es will be u sed to in -
crease the cos t of fuel and encour age
Am eri can s to d o more w ith less.
Does thi s litany so und fam iliar?
It sho uld. A virtua lly id entical list of
p olicy pr escription s was trotted ou t to addr ess the threat s of oil d epl e-
tion , foreig n oil dep end enc e, and even globa l cool ing. It see ms n o matt er
wha t the d an ger , the so lu tion put forw ard by the env iro nme n ta l es tab-
lish m ent is a lways th e same: incr ease gov ernm ent c ont rol ove r th e
eco nomy to d rive d own ene rgy use.