6/22/00 11:40 a.m.
Gas Pains II
Bush fans on a home-run ball.

By Jonathan H. Adler, author whose books include Ecology, Liberty & Property (2000)

oaring gas prices in the Midwest are presenting Texas Governor George W. Bush with a tremendous political opportunity. It's a perfect pitch for a slugger to hit out of the park, yet Gov. Bush is whiffing. Rather than expose Vice President Gore's hypocrisy on energy prices and the administration's complicity in the recent price rise, Bush is speaking about the need for a "national energy policy" — as if Washington is the solution to energy problems.

For the past few days, Vice President Gore has railed against oil companies for imposing higher gasoline prices on consumers. Yet as noted on National Review Online this Monday, Gore himself is on record calling for higher energy prices time and again. He backed the administration's ill-fated energy-tax proposal, and called for steep taxes on fossil fuels in Earth in the Balance. Not only has Gore not repudiated these words, but upon the book's republication this year, he reiterated his commitment to its message.

Now that gas prices have hit record levels in the Midwest, however, Gore appears to be singing a different tune. He may want to replace the internal-combustion engine, but he'd rather not impose the costs on voters — at least not in an election year. Calling attention to Gore's prior statements on energy prices would either reinforce his image as a Clintonesque prevaricator, or force him to confront the extreme agenda of his book, or both. This can only be to Bush's advantage.

In addition, a new report from the Congressional Research Service — released earlier this week — places blame for the price rise on two factors: environmental regulations and supply disruptions. The latter may be unavoidable, but the former are not. The Clinton-Gore administration has done more than its fair share to regulate the content and production of fuel, driving up prices and ossifying the marketplace. Here again is an opportunity for Bush to remind voters of the costs of the Gore agenda. Instead, Bush talks about an "energy policy," as if the only problem is that the wrong party's bureaucrats are meddling in energy markets.

The Clinton-Gore administration's hypocrisy on energy prices and complicity in the current spike offer as clean a hit as a political candidate is ever likely to get. If Bush can't take advantage of this one, how well will he do when the campaign really heats up?