WATCHING WASHINGTON SHAPING UP THE NES

Despite recent criticism, Energy Sec. James Watkins remains upbeat about the National Energy Strategy currently taking shape.

DOE has held 16 hearings to gather data for the NES. It plans a session on energy price issues July 20 and a later hearing on energy delivery systems.

The July 20 hearing will focus on whether energy forms are underpriced and the consequences for energy production, the environment, national security, and global competitiveness.

A SET OF OPTIONS

Watkins recently told the National Petroleum Council, a DOE advisory board consisting of oil and gas industry executives, that DOE is working to distill more than 750 recommendations in last April's NES interim report into a more manageable set of options for further analysis.

Watkins said, "In December we will deliver to the president a set of options that will frame for him key decisions that must be made to give this nation a clear energy program with measurable objectives for the short term and the long term."

Congressmen and interest groups have complained DOE is dodging its responsibility by sending the president options rather than recommendations.

Watkins responded, "Frankly, I find this furor perplexing. The man elected president-who also happens to know more about the energy business than any president we've ever had-ought to have something to say about his administration's energy policies.

"The overall scope of the project has not changed. If I were backing away from my commitment to produce for the American people an implementable action plan with specific recommendations, I could put out a nice little compendium of self-serving platitudes and declare a recess.

"I am not about to do that, nor would the president tolerate that. He wants a plan with specific action items for business and industry, federal agency officials and regulators, Congress, and state and local officials. We want to hold all players in the energy business accountable for progress in each of their action areas.

"Not everyone will be happy with the decisions we make. However, the American public will never be willing to support tough choices until they can see the trade-offs involved. Judge us by what you see next year when we publish this first version of the NES and work with us in the meantime."

DEALING WITH REALITY

Watkins said President Bush's recent decisions to defer some controversial offshore lease sales (OGJ, July 2, p. 26) reflected reality.

"As long as energy development is seen by the vast majority of Congress and the American people merely as an environmentally degrading activity, so long as energy production is not part of a tightly linked overall strategy that maximizes efficiency of energy use and environmentally sensitive development of our resources, energy production-particularly production of fossil energy-will lose every time in a head to head, one on one confrontation with the environment-at least until the lights begin to go out.

"Then it will be too late. This is why a comprehensive NES is so critical."