Recent comments by Vice President Dick Cheney that conservation is a fine “personal virtue” but not a sound government policy has certainly helped fuel the energy debate. It also ignores reality. It is an appropriate role of government to encourage or even mandate conservation through regulation, taxation, or legislation. We already do it.

In January 1977, when Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as president, the average fuel consumption of American vehicles was 12 miles per gallon. Today, the average is double that - because of congressional mandates. Homes and offices are far more energy efficient - again because of federal laws and regulations.

Here in North Carolina, one community after another is struggling with how involved - not if - local government should be in maintaining the balance between private property rights and environmental management. Additionally, hog farming has come under strict controls because of concerns about the effect of animal waste on water tables and tributaries.

My home county of Caldwell was the first rural county in the state to prohibit the unregulated application of animal waste onto farmland as fertilizer, again out of concern for protecting water supplies and preventing airborne disease.

In my native West Virginia, debate has raged for generations over the environmental impact of coal mining. When I was growing up (the 1960s), coal was king. It provided jobs - almost all the jobs. While coal operators and unionized mine workers were often adversarial towards one another in the first six decades of the 20th century, they became quick allies when environmentalists began questioning methods used in strip mining. Agreement was reached between those with economic interests and conservationists. Today, boxcars filled with coal still ride the rails out of the state, while new roads bring tourists in who are there for one reason: to enjoy the scenic beauty preserved by government policies.

A visit to Blackwater Falls State Park, near the state’s eastern panhandle, demonstrates what happens when agreement is reached. A refuge for wildlife and tourists, the park is a monument to cooperation between energy interests, state government and conservationists. The land, which sports a rustic lodge, cabins, camping, picnic areas, trails, horseback riding and majestic views of the falls and the river’s canyon, was made available by a donation from an energy company to the state.

While the new Bush administration has offered some proposals that deserve consideration, including calling for standardization of blends of gasoline, an improved energy distribution system, re-examining areas for future energy exploration, increasing energy production, and re-energizing the nuclear power industry, no plan is complete that ignores conservation.

That world view is what led to our involvement in the Persian Gulf War 10 years ago. Despite all the talk by President George Bush Sr. about preserving freedom for the people of Kuwait, the truth is that we were fighting to guarantee the free flow of oil. While it is arguably in our nation’s economic interests to assure plentiful energy supplies, I still had a tremendous amount of heartburn knowing that our military was killing people to make sure that I could have cheap gasoline at the corner convenience store.

How virtuous is that?

America has been given a trust. We control not only our own nation’s energy supplies, but we influence tremendous control over much of the entire world’s supplies. While high energy bills this past winter may lead you to believe otherwise, remember the Gulf War. If - or better, when - a similar event happens again, you can be assured that we will flex our muscles.

That, arguably, is not very virtuous. So while some may think conservation is only a personal virtue, our own history - and future - suggest otherwise. Conservation is more than a personal virtue - it’s sound public policy as well.

(Michael Barrick writes about environmental issues for the Internet magazine thegoodsteward.com. He can be contacted at mbarrick@abts.net)

 

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