Bush the Conservationist

Via Reuters:

With U.S. heating bills expected to hit record highs this winter, the Bush administration on Monday dusted off mostly old energy conservation tips and urged consumers to add home insulation and turn down thermostats.

Critics said the conservation tips were nothing new and the administration was only trying to protect itself from consumer complaints this winter over high utility bills.

Sounds about right.

This seems like a great time to push tax credits for people who buy hybrid cars or install solar panels on their homes, a great time to channel public concern over energy consumption towards long-term solutions. That’s not going to come from the Bush camp though.

But here’s my favorite part of the story

To help sell the conservation campaign, the administration will use its new cartoon figure, the Energy Hog, to warn consumers about wasting energy. Hoping to have the same impact as Smokey Bear and McGruff the Crime Dog, the government's Energy Hog — a pig wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket — will soon appear in magazines and on billboards.

And you though Bush didn’t have good energy policy.


--Matthew McCoy