Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson Says Bush Energy Plan Shortchanges Conservation

NORTON, Mass., May 18 (AScribe News) -- The Bush administration's comprehensive energy plan is far from comprehensive, according to former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson who spoke at a public forum held at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., today. Richardson criticized the President's proposals for shortchanging conservation while advancing plans for increased production, most notably the controversial idea of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Reserve.

"Republicans need to recognize that conservation is not just for sissies," Richardson said, describing the proposal as placing too much emphasis on increasing supply and production and devoting too little to conservation. "I've heard people say that the caribou like pipelines. I don't know about that, I've never asked them. I just think there are some places we should stay out of."

Still, the former Clinton cabinet officer agreed that new domestic sources for production and distribution are vitally needed.

"I do think that we need to build more power plants, preferably fired by natural gas so that they operate more cleanly," he said, noting that Democrats must come to terms with that reality. "In the past five years, our economy has grown by 35 percent and energy demand has increased by 16 percent. We need more generation to meet those increases and sustain the economy." And too much of the nation's power production comes from polluting coal-burning power plants, he said, giving the U.S. a "third-world power grid" that is in dire need of renovation.

Richardson spoke at Wheaton during a forum the liberal arts college sponsored for its annual graduation and alumni reunion celebration. His wife, Barbara Flavin Richardson, is a graduate of the college. The Clinton appointee, who is now teaching at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, responded to questions posed by Wheaton Professor of Political Science Jay Goodman.

The crisis facing California cannot be fixed quickly, Richardson said, adding "You really can't do much in the short-term." But he did say that the Bush administration should reconsider the issue of temporary price caps to calm the energy market, and predicted that they would institute controls after a season of political wrangling in Washington, D.C. "[Democrats and Republicans] are going to be battering each other for the next two months," he said. "I think this summer as the black-outs continue in California there will develop a consensus for temporary price caps."

The former Energy Secretary pegged California's problems to its dependence on out-of-state power and the statewide deregulation plan approved in 1996. Richardson called the state's plan for selective price controls flawed, and said officials did not approach the federal government until late last year when the dimensions of the crisis became apparent.

In the short-term, Richardson also said that the Bush administration should try to get OPEC to agree to an increase in production. "When I was secretary I spent a fair amount of time flying around the Mideast trying to make that happen and I was criticized for it," he said. "But it needs to be done. Those countries control the spigot" for most of the world's supply right now.

Later on, Richardson was asked whether U.S. motorists would be shelling out $3 for a gallon of gas this summer. He predicted gasoline prices of $2.50 per gallon in the Midwest and $2.00 in the Northeast.