A Republican Version

Without anything resembling the Administration's publicity blitz for its energy program, the Senate's 38 Republicans last week offered an energy plan of their own. Called the Senate Republican Energy Initiative, the twelve-page document acknowledges the need for action but opposes the Administration's 103-page National Energy Plan (TIME, May 2) in two key areas:

1) The G.O.P. plan would not tax oil at the wellhead, gasoline at the pump or gas-guzzling cars at the factory. Instead, the Republicans want federal price controls removed from all gas and oil when a "true world price for energy resources emerges." Until then, the G.O.P. Senators advocate a transition period in which Congress must ensure "that any excess energy profits are reinvested by the energy industry to find and produce yet more energy"--or taxed, with revenue returning to the consumer. 2) The Republican program pushes nuclear power more than the Carter plan. It calls for research into the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, continued development of the fast breeder reactor (all but buried by Carter) and stepped-up fusion research, which Carter would trim. It comes out strongly for developing geothermal energy, which the Government's own scientists regard as only marginally promising.

On other matters, the Republicans and the President are in agreement. The G.O.P. too wants more coal production and would provide tax incentives for companies to convert from gas to coal. Like Carter, the Republicans would provide tax credits for insulation and other energy-saving equipment, and draw up tough efficiency standards for home appliances. They would encourage utilities to insulate homes and recover costs by monthly billing; Carter's plan would force utilities to offer that service.

The program is heavy on philosophy, light on detail and shows signs of hasty assembly. The opening sentence reads: "No one should mistake the energy problem for what it is--a fundamental crisis that threatens Americans and America's way of life." (The drafters meant "fail to recognize.")

No House Version. The GOP program is the product of Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, a presidential aspirant who felt that the Republicans had to do more than naysay Carter's program. House Minority Leader John Rhodes would have none of that strategy, so there will be no House version of the plan. Says Rhodes: "Since when did the minority have to be positive?" Nonetheless, the G.O.P. now has a plan of sorts, and it will give Baker and his colleagues something to talk about now --and three years from now, if Jimmy Carter's energy plan does not work.

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