President Bush shares some of the blame in this.
He did not aggressively pursue energy production & he did not use the bully pulpit to explain to the people that Democrats and their far-left envirowacko friends are responsible for our stagnant energy policy.
This issue was a no-brainer, winning issue for the GOP, and they dropped the ball big-time.
Look, we all know how Democrats' operate. But the GOP simply has to do a better job in refuting the Dims' environmental lies.
EEE, you are becoming one of the unbearable people on FR, you simply hate the President too much.
It's tough to refute anything from the Dems when the msm does not do honest and balanced reporting on GOP speeches. The msm always tries to make it sound like there's really not much oil in Alaska or offshore of California and it really won't help us out if we produce oil from those regions. That kind of reporting is just false, distorted and unbalanced and it makes it very difficult for the GOP to get our side of the story out to the public. The Democrat energy plan is usually mass transit subsidies and more regulation to increase fuel economy by making cars & trucks smaller and lighter. Regulation to require smaller vehicles saves some energy but it makes it harder for US auto companies to compete with Asian companies and it causes more traffic fatalities in accidents.
I have to say my memory is that there was a significant push by the Bush Administration to get a better energy policy going. This is an issue that is just way susceptible to demogogery. Bush says more production and the environmentalists say "Enron", Cheney secret meeting, oil cronies. The price of gas spikes and the Democrats say gouging. We just have a critical shortage of leaders who will speak clearly to the American people about choices we have to make rather than boogie men and environmental disaster.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-06-15-bush-energy_x.htm
The president outlined his four-point plan to reduce high energy prices: Promote conservation; produce and refine more crude oil in the United States; develop alternative sources of energy, such as renewable ethanol or biodiesel; and help other nations, such as China, to become more energy-efficient to reduce global demand for energy. He said it was time for the United States to expand its nuclear power capacity.
"Today, millions of American families and small businesses are hurting because of high gas prices," Bush said at a forum on energy efficiency. "If you're trying to meet a payroll or trying to meet a family budget, even small increases at the pump have a big impact on your bottom line."
By the Way, How does dingy Harry's plan of putting the kabosh on nuclear waste disposal in Nevada fit in to solving our energy woes?