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Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Opinions

Finally, the current administration has
awoken to the horrible possibility that oil
might not last forever. As atrocious as it
might sound, the president used that awful
C word Ronald Regan would laugh at
throughout the 80s: conservation. Along
with conservation, the word sacrifi ce raises
up from the depths of the 70s, wondering
if maybe sensible government has decided
to reasert itself. Worry not, the monster of
sacrifi ce shall stay buried in every other
country in the world: the United States is
safe for now. We have the Energy Hog to
keep us responsible.

That's right, an Energy Hog, brought
to you by your friends at the Ad Council,
the Alliance to Save Energy, and of course
you! The $1.2 million dollar "Energy Hog"
campaign has half of the bill footed by the
Energy Department, which is paid for by
the taxpayers of America.

But wait, isn't this administration rooted
in the beliefs of past Republican presidents,
too bullheaded and interested in defi cit
spending to consider conservation as an
energy policy? In 2001, Vice President Dick
Cheney made it crystal clear he couldn't
fi nd a convincing reason to change the
energy policy: "Conservation may be a sign
of personal virtue, but it is not a suffi cient
basis for a sound, comprehensive energy
policy." An energy policy built on billions
of OPEC dollars seems to be a sound plan
for this country, rather then turning down
the thermostat a little bit.

Conservatives, especially those running
the White House, seem more and more out
of touch with reality with each passing
year. Energy is something everyone in
Washington is clueless on. Democrats are
not exempt from trying to weasel out of
this issue. When Bill Clinton was running
the show and the Democrats sat on top of
the world, there was no great push to get off
oil. Solar, wind, and hydrogen power were
all the future of energy. Here we sit today,

Continued...

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