
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 20, 1991                   TAG: 9102200351
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CONGRESS, BUSH MAY SQUARE OFF ON ENERGY POLICY

With America's reliance on foreign oil painfully underscored by the Persian Gulf War, Congress and the administration are both eager for a new energy strategy. But they are at severe odds over whether it should stress conservation or increased domestic production.

President Bush today is expected to unveil a long-term energy blueprint that comes down heavily on the production side. But a half-dozen lawmakers already have introduced bills so varied that no compromise will come easily.

The arguments range from much stiffer auto fuel economy standards, to drilling for oil in environmentally sensitive areas, to a rebirth of the nuclear power industry.

"There will be a battle royal over energy policy," predicted Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn.

Gore has been highly critical of the Bush administration's refusal to support stronger measures to reduce energy consumption. He is among a number of lawmakers who have offered bills aimed at forcing Americans to use less energy, especially oil.

Like last year's fatiguing debate over clean-air legislation, the eventual package of energy laws, perhaps emerging later this year, likely will be a result of painstaking fits and starts.

But with many Americans convinced that the war in the Persian Gulf is largely over oil, both sides believe the time is right to push for a new national energy strategy.

"This is clearly the biggest opportunity we've had in a decade to seriously take new initiatives," said Rep. Philip Sharp, D-Ind., chairman of the House energy and power subcommittee. "We should seize the opportunity."

A package of bills soon to be considered by Sharp's subcommittee includes incentives for the use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power for generating electricity, and new federal programs to foster energy efficiency in housing, businesses and government buildings.

The Bush administration's long-awaited energy plan, meanwhile, is expected to include:

> A renewed call for oil production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

> The easing of regulatory barriers to licensing nuclear power plants.

But it, too, is likely to include a proposal to overhaul electric utility regulations to spur the use of renewable energy sources.

Last week, Bush promised "an energy strategy that is reasonable, balanced and comprehensive" while avoiding "unwise and extreme" measures. But after drafts of the proposal were leaked recently, critics charged the White House with all but ignoring the need to reduce energy consumption.

Michael Fischer, executive director of the Sierra Club, called the anticipated administration energy blueprint "nothing more than an answer to the prayers of the oil, nuclear and auto industries."

by CNB