Bush Won't Ask Americans To Conserve

W A S H I N G T O N, May 8 -- As gas prices soar and blackouts loom, the Bush administration is taking on what it considers an "energy crisis" with mixed messages.

Wrapping up a meeting with the emir of Bahrain on Monday, President Bush said conservation would be part of the national energy policy Vice President Dick Cheney will propose next week.

"We'll have a strong conservation statement," Bush said.

But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was adamant Monday when asked whether the president would ask Americans to stop using so much energy.

"That's a big 'no,'" Fleischer said. "The president believes that it's an American way of life, that it should be the goal of policy-makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one."

The president, he said, considers Americans' heavy use of energy a "reflection of the strength of our economy, of the way of life that the American people have come to enjoy."

Long-Term Planning

The average price of gas has jumped nearly $0.09 a gallon to $1.76, with dealers in California and Chicago reportedly bracing for $3 a gallon gas this summer. And if gas prices hit that $3 mark, drivers will get sympathy from the White House, but no price controls. And, for now, no presidential effort to get Americans to conserve.

Bush considers the problem long term — with the blame going back a decade because the oil industry has not built new refinery capacity.

"This problem was a long problem in the making and if anypolitician has a magic wand that he can wave over gas prices tolower them the president would be happy to listen," Fleischer said.

But many scientists are now saying the administration is too focused on finding new supplies, and belittling conservation.

"If that is their plan," said Alan Nogee of the Union of Concerned Scientists, "then I really cannot understand any rationale for that other than to increase the profits of the traditional energy supply companies."

Nevertheless, expanding energy on the supply side is expected to be the cornerstone of the the administration's plan.