WASHINGTON – House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt yesterday called for more conservation to ease the energy crisis – after hitching a ride to his news conference in a gas-guzzling SUV.
As Gephardt (D-Mo.) unveiled his plan to stop soaring fuel prices, including tapping into the nation’s emergency oil reserve and enacting electricity-price controls, aides shrugged off his mode of transportation – a Chevy Suburban.
“We don’t say anything about changing people’s lifestyles,” his spokesman, Eric Smith said.
The White House pooh-poohed Gephardt’s energy ideas, claiming they would only “create greater energy problems.”
President Bush’s proposals are expected to include drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, easing environmental regulations, building more nuclear-power plants and encouraging conservation through tax breaks.