In contrast to the execrable Meet the Press episode Sunday, Warren Onley's show today was very good. They talked about leadership from California, the way things are in Europe, the larger picture of energy consumption, and national policies.

The show was a good listen and helped me conclude that the market just isnt going to solve this problem. Markets react; leaders plan.

If the US government created stringent new laws, the market would react to them with solutions. But as long as Bush is President, expect car makers to choose the cheapest vehicles to make (SUV's) and huge oil company profits. In other words, more of the same and no focus on global warming, oil imports, or energy consumption.

Will High Oil Prices Drive a New Energy Policy?

To the Point

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

The Bush Administration says high prices will continue for at least the next three years. While Republicans and Democrats are outraged over the soaring price of gasoline, neither party is proposing any long-term solutions.

Experts agree that dependence on foreign oil won't be ended by taxing excess profits, investigating price fixing or handing out $100 rebates. Increased domestic production, conservation and renewable energy sources will all require political will.

What can Washington learn from Europe, South America--and even California? Are the White House and Capitol Hill ready for a world without oil? We explore the politics and the reality of America's latest energy crisis with journalists in Washington and the UK, economists, petroleum and energy experts, including an advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Guests

JEFFREY BIRNBAUM
National correspondent for the Washington Post and writer of its K Street Confidential column; author of The Money Men, about fundraising's influence on political power in America

JOHN VIDAL
Environment Editor for the Britain's Guardian newspaper

PHILIP VERLEGER
Independent petroleum economist who consults with oil producers and consumers, and publishes of the Petroleum Economic Monthly; formally senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC

MYRON EBELL
Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an influential conservative think tank in Washington that receives some of its funding from oil and auto companies

TERRY TAMMINEN
Special Advisor for Energy and the Environment in the Office of Governor Schwarzenegger; former Secretary of Environmental Protection for the California Environmental Protection Agency