Supply: Petroleum is our single largest source of energy at the moment. Together with natural gas, petroleum has squeezed out the traditionally large contribution of coal, yet coal is our single largest natural resource.

Demand: Industry and transportation together account for more than two-thirds of total energy consumption.

Sources: "Patterns of Energy Consumption in the United States," Office of Science and Technology, January 1972. Hammond, A. L., Science 117, Dec. 8, 1972.

resources, it will also lessen the danger to the entire system from shortages in any one energy source and it will make democratic control and equitable distribution of energy more easily attainable.

The indecision and vacillation exhibited by the government's moves to date underline one of the most important aspects of the situation-the fact that our present decision-making mechanisms are not able to deal adequately with the current situation. Congress has been drowning in its own energy proposals; there is still a long way to go toward developing a forceful, comprehensive and coherent energy policy. The public debate must be widened, but at the same time it is essential that the content of the debate show more rigorous reasoning, more attention to

the facts and more enlightened comprehension of the total energy problem in all its facets.

B. Basic principles

If our national effort is to be effective, it must encompass four basic principles: expansion of the public sector, democratic control, environmental protection and an attack on the anti-social aspects of the present monopolization of the energy industry.

1. A new role for the public sector

The keystone of an effective reform of national energy supply is a central government body-an Energy Authority or Department of Energy-responsible for consistent long-range planning and implementation and for coordination of the activities of its otherwise independent subsidiaries. The staffing of this authority must be subject to congressional approval and staff members must be completely "clean," free of any vestige of association with the private energy industry.

Subordinate to the Energy Authority would be a number of different bodies, some purely government, some private, some joint government-industry, some linking government with independent research institutions, and some semi-independent public corporations along the lines of TVA. The functions of these bodies would be grouped under three principal heads: (i) research and development, (ii) direct investment and supply and (iii) regulations of public and private sector activities.

At the moment there are a number of pieces of proposed legislation which include suggestions along these lines but they each have their individual shortcomings. We recognize the difficulties before Congress in linking them into a consistent structure. These become more difficult in view of the dillydallying by the national Administration. The crisis facing the nation, however, requires an heroic effort by our nation's lawmakers.

2. Achieving democratic control

Hand in hand with the expansion of the public sector outlined above, it is essential that the new structure be

rooted in a system of democratic control. It is extremely important that any new institutions be responsive to

the goals and criticisms of the citizens they are meant to serve, otherwise even a progressive social experiment may sour very quickly. A bit of vision and foresight can forestall this possibility.

a. Information

There is an overwhelming sentiment in the nation at large that the first step toward real democratic control of public policy is the collection and dissemination of independent data. Some tentative steps in this direction are contemplated in the "information" provisions of various energy bills currently being considered in Congress. These provisions usually take the form of giving Congress or other duly constituted public authorities power to subpoena information and of requiring that such information be available to numerous independent government agencies such as the FTC, GAO, IRS, etc.

Occasionally, there is also a provision that the data be made available to the public on request except when "national security" may be affected.

As limited as these efforts are, industry is already working diligently to delete such provisions. Yet these provisions are merely hesitant first steps and there is no reason to be satisfied with them.

What we really need is legislation that (a) mandates any new public authority to collect and check its own data, (b) provides it with adequate funds to hire the manpower to do the job, and (c) requires that the results be readily available to the public. We have too many recent examples of crimes against the public being perpetrated in the interests of secrecy and "national security," to accept such clauses in our legislation without the most strict and limited definition of the term "national security."

b. Institutions

Democratic control can be further enhanced by the establishment of either or both of the following as companions to the functional subsidiaries of the Energy Authority:

(1) Public review boards, including representatives of consumer groups, labor, independent professionals, etc., to act as watchdogs over both public authorities and private industry. In addition to surveillance, these boards should be empowered to act on their findings in the public interest.

(2) An independent elected ombudsman (assuming the review boards are appointed, and hence subject to changes in administration) mandated to investigate complaints by interested parties and to move swiftly to correct improper or socially undesirable actions.

At the moment we have two forms of public accountability-the courts and congressional investigative committees whose effectiveness is limited by cumbersome and expensive procedure and by the sheer length of the process by which offending parties are compelled or influenced to take corrective action. The odds also tend to be weighted in favor of the relatively rich or powerful. When it is a question of dealing with a critical economic sector such as energy, this waste of time, effort and resources simply will not get the job done.

3. Environmental protection

The development of new sources of energy cannot take precedence over the protection of the environment, or the ultimate aim of enhancing the public welfare will be defeated. Only by taking full account of the environmental cost in any national policy can we come to grips with the basic question: conservation of scarce and often irreplaceable resources.

The failure to face up to these issues is a major contributor to the energy problem in the first place for too long we have thought of ourselves as living in a land of unlimited wealth and have happily squandered it at an accelerating pace. Any attempt to solve the immediate crisis by more such myopic policies can only make the ultimate adjustment to reality that much more painful and difficult.

By paying attention to the environmental aspects of policy we are not merely giving vent to romantic tastes, we

Since World War II, transportation use of petroleum has grown

faster than consumption in any other sector.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Energy Statistics.

BTU: British thermal unit-the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

are building a sound foundation for future development. In the current state of the debate over energy there is grave danger that inappropriate panic legislation, rushed through Congress in the whirlwind of confusion, will not only set back what little progress we have made

P