Bush’s bad-faith energy policy

President George W Bush has an uncanny ability not to see the big message. For years, it has become increasingly clear that much is amiss with his energy policy.

Scripted by the oil industry, even members of his own party referred to an earlier energy Bill as one that “left no lobbyist behind.” While praising the virtues of the free market, Bush has been only too willing to give huge handouts to the energy industry, even as the country faces soaring deficits.

There is a market failure when it comes to energy, but government intervention should run in precisely the opposite direction from what the Bush administration has proposed. The fact that Americans do not pay the full price for the pollution — especially enormous contributions to greenhouse gases — that results from their profligate energy use means that energy is under-priced, in turn sustaining excessive consumption.

The Economic Times