Failing the reality test.

Byline: The Register-Guard

There's a lot to dislike about the energy bill that has crawled out of the congressional crypt and is now shuffling its way through committee and toward a vote on the House floor.

With a few modifications, the legislation copies the energy plan crafted behind closed doors during President Bush's first term by Vice President Dick Cheney and representatives from the oil, gas and coal industries. The bill's origins explain its flaws, which include not only a failure to confront the problem of global warming, but also an increasing reliance on the fossil fuels that are its primary cause.

The bill fails to address the need for renewable energy resources and provides for a major escalation of oil and gas exploration on public lands, including pristine wilderness such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It fills the trough to the brim with new tax breaks for coal, gas and oil companies.

But the energy bill's most glaring flaw is its lack of emphasis on conservation. At a time when gasoline prices in Oregon and the rest of the nation are hitting record highs and when the United States' reliance on foreign oil continues to soar, the failure to make conservation a cornerstone of federal energy policy is gross negligence.

In recent weeks, House Democrats have tried to amend the energy bill to include technologically feasible and affordable increases in fuel efficiency requirements for vehicles. A phased-in fuel economy standard for cars of 35 mpg would save this country 234 million barrels of oil annually after five years and 440 million barrels annually in 10 years. But no fuel efficiency amendment has made it out of committee so far.

Opponents of higher standards continue to insist that increased fuel efficiency would wreak havoc with the auto industry. But the National Academy of Sciences issued a report several years ago concluding that automakers could increase standards by 30 percent using existing technologies. A failure to take advantage of conservation opportunities entails costs that grow with each increase in the price of oil. Conservation can improve the nation's economy, environment and security.

Lawmakers need to take a hard look at oil realities. The world's supply of oil reserves is straining to keep pace with the rising demand, particularly as rapidly industrializing countries such as India and China increase their thirst for oil.

Meanwhile, military and intelligence experts are warning that a failure to stem this nation's ravenous appetite for oil could endanger national security. As evidence, one need look no further than the war in Iraq, a nation where vast oil reserves helped move it to the top of the administration's list of countries in need of democratization.

Congress and the administration should stop dragging their lead feet and produce a serious energy policy that has conservation, not a continued reliance on fossil fuels, at its philosophical core.