Bush Oil Plan a Drop in the Bucket (11/20/02)

by Dean Hartwell

During an energy crisis in the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter appeared on television in a sweater. His speech asked the United States public to conserve energy by, among other things, lowering their home thermostats.

Just before invading Iraq to keep the price of oil low, President George H. W. Bush tried a different approach. He appeared on television driving a speedboat, as if to assure people not to worry about oil.

Now, since a war with Iraq threatens the world oil supply once again, President George W. Bush has targeted sport-utility vehicles for higher rates of fuel efficiency. Though the idea sounds reasonable, the details of implementing it make it insufficient to significantly curtail our use of oil.

First, United States law requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to give automobile manufacturers eighteen months notice to make changes in fuel efficiency. So, even if such a law passed today, the car companies would not have to make changes until the middle of 2004 at the earliest. The changes would first affect the 2005 model cars.

Second, the Administration considers a raise of 1.5 miles per gallon over its current target 20.7 miles per gallon. This increase will still leave it behind the passenger cars’ target of 27.5 miles per gallon. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, every gallon of gasoline burns about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. Even if the raise goes into affect, the typical SUV will burn about 10 more tons of carbon dioxide than an average passenger car during the course of their lifetimes.

Lastly, effective foreign policy means avoiding dependencies upon products from any nation. Now is the time for this Administration to show the type of leadership President Carter exhibited on this issue. President Bush should ask us to sacrifice use of gasoline by carpooling, using mass transportation and walking.

By consuming large quantities of gasoline, we will only help nations that control the market on oil. With sacrifice we can break a harmful addiction, and, in the long run, help ourselves to a clean environment and an independent foreign policy.