Editorial: A new day for energy

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

The 110th Congress will convene Jan. 4, with Democrats in charge for the first time in 12 years. One of the changes that we believe will become almost immediately apparent is Congress' new attitude toward energy.

The Republican-controlled Congress almost exclusively embraced - for now and the long term - the traditional energy industries that deal in oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear power. It is true that the country is dependent upon these industries, but it is also true that this dependence should not go on forever.

For the United States, dependency on oil means dependency on the Middle East, jeopardizing our national security.

And while the U.S. has plenty of natural gas, as does Canada, where most of our imported natural gas comes from, it is vulnerable to sudden and sustained price increases.

The burning of coal contributes greatly to air pollution, and extracting the mineral is dangerous and exposes miners to health hazards.

Finally, nuclear energy produces waste that remains deadly for hundreds of thousands of years, and the federal government's only plan for the waste is to bury it in Southern Nevada in unsafe tunnels at Yucca Mountain.

It is clear to us that the Democrats were right, given these problems, to have committed themselves to begin planning for the day when renewable energy provides a much greater percentage of our total energy use.

Democrats want 25 percent of all new cars by 2010 capable of running on alternative fuels. And they want the government to provide incentives, beginning immediately, to jump-start a nationwide boom in industries that produce either renewable energy or products that are much more energy-efficient. In addition to their environmental benefits, the industries would spur the economy by creating tens of thousands of new, well-paying jobs.

We hope the Democrats can initiate this new day for America without encountering resistance from a source whose current policies have been repudiated by the voters - the White House.