Conserving isn't just a virtue

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

When Vice President Dick Cheney outlined the nation's new energy policy last week, he might as well have been thumbing his nose at just about everyone in Hawai'i.

The Bush administration, Cheney said, is going to rely heavily on oil, gas, coal, hydroelectric and nuclear power development to meet the country's energy needs. He said the country must open up the Arctic National Wildlife refuge for drilling, and build between 1,300 and 1,900 power plants — more than one every week for the next 20 years.

Conservation?

He dismissed it simply by saying: "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis — all by itself — for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."

When I read those words I wanted to cringe, then cry, for all the people in Hawai'i who have worked so hard to promote and practice conservation here:

• The hundreds of people who struggle in the fledgling recycling industry, trying to make a living out of something they believe in.

• All the planners, architects, designers and other professionals who integrate conservation in their daily work.

• The 14,000 homeowners who have solar water heating units, which helps reduce our reliance on imported oil.

• The thousands of businesses that pay extra every week to comply with recycling and conservation laws.

• Everybody who has a backyard compost pile.

• The tens of thousands of people who take the little extra step of bringing their newspapers, plastics and bottles to neighborhood recycling centers every weekend — just because it's the right thing to do.

If you take Cheney's words at face value, we are all just so many personal kooks. We're just kindly, good-intentioned little folk who don't even make a dent in the nation's energy problem. Cheney even implied that our energy woes are the result of too much emphasis on conservation, which prevented us from developing the increased energy capacity we now need so desperately.

The truth is conservation has a vital role to play. No one is suggesting that conservation and recycling alone will solve our problems but, given the right support, it has great potential to help.

Without that support in the highest places, we're certainly headed down the wrong road.

You don't have to look any farther than out your car window: Just look at that gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle in the next lane. It's been reported that with just a 15 percent improvement in the fuel economy of SUVs — less than 3 miles per gallon — the nation could save more oil every year than can be produced by drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Range.

That kind of conservation is a lot more than just a personal virtue, Mr. Cheney. It is what's best for the country.

Mike Leidemann's columns appear Thursdays and Saturdays in The Advertiser. He can be reached by phone (525-5460) or e-mail (mleidemann @honoluluadvertiser.com).