Inquirer Editorial

Editorial : Conservation

THE ARROYO administration should drop the idea of asking Congress for emergency powers to cope with the energy crisis. Our past experience with the use--or abuse--of emergency powers has not been a happy one. And that includes the extraordinary powers granted to then President Fidel Ramos in the early 1990s, which helped solve the long, daily power blackouts but also got us stuck with high power charges, courtesy of the independent power producers that mushroomed during his presidency.

The administration should abandon, in particular, its plan to seek Congress' authority to ration oil products. Rationing didn't work during martial law as some enterprising individuals just reproduced the ration coupons to get around the restrictions or to earn a fast buck, and there is no reason to think it will work this time around. Besides the problem now, as some businessmen have pointed out, is not a scarcity of supply but a growing demand worldwide that has sent oil prices skyrocketing to record highs, with the peak seemingly nowhere in sight yet.

Instead, the government should go full steam ahead with its energy conservation program which it unveiled soon after oil prices soared to $67.10 per barrel earlier this month. The program may not be as comprehensive as some people would wish it to be, but if the government would just do what Malacanang said it would do, that would be a good beginning in cushioning the impact of the looming crisis.

Some of the things government offices have been ordered to do are commonsense measures to cut down electric consumption, like using fluorescent lamps instead of incandescent bulbs, keeping air-conditioning units on for shorter periods, etc. And compliance is monitored and ensured by setting a target reduction in electric consumption of 10 percent.

Some measures, however, ought to be attended with as much fanfare as the public exhibition of suspects in sensational crimes. For instance, SUVs and other gas-guzzling luxury vehicles being used by public officials should be sold at a public auction. Then government should enforce the prohibition of the use of its vehicles for private purposes, like going to market or having a picnic. These would show that the administration is really serious not only about energy conservation but also about observing austerity at a time when a financial crisis also threatens to deliver a double whammy. Such callous displays of ostentation and profligacy have no place in a government that demands sacrifices of its citizens to reduce its huge debt and shore up its international reserves amid rising oil prices.

Those who wish to flaunt their wealth and wastefulness should be made to pay heavily for it. This will require a review and a steep upward adjustment of the import tariffs on luxury vehicles, particularly the heavier models.

And whatever happened to the bus reduction scheme that the Metro Manila Development Authority has been talking about for so long? On any given day, it is clear to see that there are just too many buses out there in the streets of the metropolis, most of them nearly empty. These buses are not only wasting the gas that they consume, but also the additional gas that other vehicles use on account of the heavier traffic. When people see that there is just enough buses to serve commuters without causing too much discomfort, they will realize that an energy conservation program is really in place.

In these times of soaring oil prices, it is almost unnecessary for the government to call on the people to save on energy. More than any appeals for cooperation, their electric bills and the cost of LPG bring home that message most forcefully. What they would appreciate more is to be taught some other ways of saving on power that they may not know yet.

Without any prodding from the government, oil consumption already declined by 8.6 percent during the first half of the year. Any further cuts would probably require some government intervention, by way of regulations or incentives for the use of alternative fuels like ethanol or coco-diesel or alternative energy sources like solar power.

An extensive oil-substitution program will take some time, probably years when it comes to harnessing some alternative energy sources. But most of the conservation measures the administration has identified can be done at once. There is no excuse to dilly-dally on this program.