Bush, Gore Duel Over Energy Policy

Sept. 29 -- — Declaring that “America has no energy policy,” Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush today unveiled a 10-year plan to drive down the nation’s energy bills and reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

“This administration tries to take credit for our economy, but they have forgotten what makes it run,” the Texas governor told employees at a manufacturing plant in Saginaw, Mich. “America runs on oil and gas and coal.”

But as Bush outlined his $8 billion, 10-year plan to boost the supplies of those crucial resources, his opponent was railing against the proposals.

“We don’t have to accept a future of old engines and power plants that waste too much energy and cause too much pollution,” Vice President Al Gore told supporters at the National Audubon Society in Chevy Chase, Md. “If we do things right … then we can have cleaner air, more reliable energy and a more prosperous economy.”

Environmental Accusation

As Bush was making the case for his most controversial energy proposal — opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling — Gore was condemning it as a threat to the environment.

“Pollution should never be the price of prosperity,” the Democratic candidate said. “We don’t have to degrade our environment in order to secure our future.”

“The vice president says he would rather protect this refuge than gain the energy, but this is a false choice,” countered Bush. “We can do both, taking out energy and leaving only footprints.”

The Republican candidate argued the Clinton-Gore administration’s record on energy issues was one of “inattention, misplaced priorities and last-minute ploys.”

The “ploy” he referred to was the president’s decision last week to tap the nation’s emergency oil stockpile — the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — in an effort to drive down decade-high prices.