Nightline Daily E-mail 5/17

W A S H I N G T O N, May 17 -- During the presidential campaign and the early days of the Administration, we heard a lot about bipartisan cooperation. With the Senate split down the middle along party lines, many said the only solution would be cooperation.

Well, that didn't last very long. Today as President Bush rolls out his energy plan, Democrats and Republicans are poised for a fierce debate over how to balance environmental concerns against growing energy needs, and how to control surging energy costs.

Rising gas prices and rolling blackouts are emerging in polls as among Americans' chief concerns. This is not lost on either party. Both are trying to claim this issue as their own - especially before the 2002 elections that could tilt the precarious balance on the Hill.

So it is not by coincidence that President's presentation of his energy plan is designed like a campaign event. He will appear shortly at a power plant in St. Paul Minnesota - one that apparently produces electricity from turkey manure and alfalfa. The Democrats on the Hill, meanwhile, have said they are setting up a "war room" in the basement of the Capitol and plan to air radio and television ads next week. The Democrats have their own energy proposal, and are attacking the Administration's relationship with big oil companies.

All of this is designed to get YOUR attention. While the polls show that Americans are concerned about energy - there does not appear to be a solution that American agree on. Do we need to cap prices? Dip into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to keep prices down? Or, should there be more drilling and more refineries? Should the gas tax be repealed? New nuclear power plants?

If all of this sounds familiar, it should. In a time when bell bottoms and capri pants have come back into vogue, when "Charlie's Angels" was a recent popular film, we should have known an energy crisis was coming. Is it the 1970s all over again?

Both parties are keeping President Carter's experience in mind as they plan the public sale of their energy plans. No doubt, President Bush will not be donning a sweater, nor turning the White House thermostats down to 65, as President Carter did. Both the Democrats and Republicans are grappling with how to address the serious concerns of energy, involving controversial and sometimes unpleasant solutions, without losing political capital.