WASHINGTON - President Bush declared yesterday that America is in the midst of "an energy crisis now" to justify why he abandoned a campaign pledge and now opposes the regulation of power plants' carbon dioxide emissions.
Bush asserted that such regulation would overburden coal-burning plants and force rising energy prices up even more. Coal, which generates more than half the nation's electricity, is a major producer of carbon dioxide. And many scientists believe the gas contributes heavily to global warming.
"I am concerned that if we don't act in a commonsense way, that our people will not be able to heat and cool their homes," the president said.
Having seldom used the term "energy crisis" since taking office, Bush used it four times yesterday to explain his about-face on carbon dioxide regulation. The president insisted that his decision, which he spelled out in a letter to several Republican senators on Tuesday, was not a bow to pressure from the coal industry, as environmental groups and Democratic critics alleged. The coal industry contributed generously to the Republican Party last year.
"I was responding to reality, and [the] reality is, the nation has got a real problem when it comes to energy," Bush told reporters during a visit to New Jersey to promote his plans for faith-based outreach groups.
But the president's decision came after an intensive lobbying campaign by utility companies, as well as the coal-mining industry, which was crucial in delivering the traditionally Democratic state of West Virginia to Bush in the November election.
As the White House brushed aside suggestions that industry pressure played a part in its decision, some industry representatives were celebrating a victory. John Grasser, vice president of the National Mining Association, extolled the virtues of the "good old-fashioned lobbying" he said his organization engaged in over the past two weeks.
"We lobbied that something needs to be corrected here," said Grasser, who warned that reducing carbon dioxide emissions would cause many utility companies to switch to natural gas, which has soared in price in the past year, and force coal miners out of work.
Aides to Bush further explained the president's shift by saying that they only recently learned that carbon dioxide is not classified as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, even though most experts believe it is a leading cause of global warming.
Bipartisan opposition
