Ex-oil chief calls for gas rationing

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By David M. Dickson

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW:

One of the oil industry's most influential voices called Monday for a temporary 1970s-style rationing of gasoline in parts of the United States to help avoid hurricane-related shortages and declared that the Bush administration, the Congress and the two men running for president have failed to exhibit the courage needed to solve America's longer-term energy problems.

"We need to get a Congress that is willing to make some courageous decisions, and we need to have a president willing to make courageous decisions with respect to energy supply," former Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

Mr. Hofmeister, who now serves as chairman of the National Urban League, also said that America's current economic crisis is disproportionately hurting middle- and lower-income families.

"The economy is actually quite weak for middle- and low-income folks because of the drain on their disposable income" resulting from soaring energy, food and health care costs, he said. "America is suffering a lot more than is being reported."

Mr. Hofmeister laid blame squarely on the country's political leaders, saying President Bush unnecessarily waited 7 1/2 years as gas prices soared to lift a presidential moratorium on offshore drilling and that Congress has made only token gestures to solve an energy crisis that requires significant action.

As for the men seeking to succeed Mr. Bush, Mr. Hofmeister said he has talked with energy advisers to both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain and hasn't heard a comprehensive solution.

Both candidates, for example, oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, although Mr. McCain recently reversed his opposition to most offshore drilling and has endorsed a massive expansion of nuclear power.

"Both campaigns have good ideas," Mr. Hofmeister said. But "this whole energy set of issues needs a short-term, a medium-term and a long-term set of solutions. Neither campaign is looking at it holistically.

"If you are running a corporation, you always have a short-, medium- and long-term strategy," he added. "If you are running U.S. government, you tend to run it on political time, which is, 'What do we have to do in preparation for the next election?'"