In "Questions of Security" the columnists preface their question:

"Political instability in the Middle East underscores the need for Western energy security. At the same time, the Group of Eight has set a goal of bringing global carbon dioxide emissions down to half their 1990 level by 2050. Realistically, there is little chance of achieving this target, nor of achieving real energy security, without drastically new technologies."

Question:
What, if anything, should government do to increase domestic production of oil and gas, to expand the use of nuclear energy and to encourage energy conservation and new technologies?

My answer:
Let's not confuse petrol with electricity in this discussion.

Petroleum-- Congress is finally asking a question many of us posed years ago: Why do taxpayers still subsidize this industry?

Expanding the domestic production of transportation fuels is a no-brainer from a policy standpoint: No new legislation is required. Oil companies have access to domestic reserves they have not tapped despite high commodity prices. Drilling to those reserves would bring prices down and hurt profits. This is how the market works; it is taking care of supply as well as it can in an oligopoly.

Expand public transit, along with telecommuting options for knowledge workers. Look to Europe and Japan. Demand must change, but Americans today have few alternatives to driving private cars everywhere. Public transit systems, where they exist, are packed.

Electricity-- Renew the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy systems. Most of our carbon emissions come from power plants burning fossil fuels.

Energy efficiency should be the "first fuel" as we address the growing demand for electricity. Inefficiency isn't limited to lights and insulation. The age of our transmission grid causes inefficiencies. Government should expand two areas: support for research-development-demonstration for energy technologies; and incentives for deploying them.

Structure tariffs so demand response is the reserve capacity of first choice. With DR we can avoid building some power plants -- and avoid running old smoky ones -- to keep the lights on in periods of peak demand. DR works best on a smart grid, which will require massive investments.

DR is a step toward power rationing, which we might as well get used to. The current crisis (oil, electricity, and carbon) took a long time and a lot of money to create, and instant solutions will not appear tomorrow. Things will get worse before they get better.

Expand the use of nuclear energy the minute we figure out what to do with tons of deadly waste... and not a minute sooner.