The Bush administration’s plan to fix the national energy crisis is shortsighted and selfish. It is meddling in a situation that is ultimately out of its hands.

According to the White House, the nation is headed toward a major energy crisis and the only way to fix it is with a major campaign.

“The energy crunch we’re in is a supply-and-demand issue,” President Bush said in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press. “We need to reduce demand and increase supply.”

Bush’s plan to lower gas prices involves drilling for oil in Alaska to decrease the country’s dependence on Middle East oil producers.

Conservationists argue lowering oil prices for a short period of time isn’t worth disturbing the environment.

Democrats in the U.S. House call for the government to hold electricity price increases down and give tax credits to individuals who purchase energy-efficient cars and technologies. Vice President Richard Cheney has also proposed tax credits for the purchase of hybrid vehicles.

This so-called energy crisis is being overblown by the Bush administration. Bush wants to drill for oil in Alaska and an energy crisis will give him an excuse to do it.

The best the administration can do is make short-term reparations. After that, the inevitable will happen: The natural cycle of the economy will take over again.

Bush is right: If we drill for oil in Alaska, we will decrease independence on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries - for all of several months. Then it’s back to being suckered by the Middle East. He has no foreign policy plan to deal with these oil-producing nations.

The administration’s shortsighted plan is heavily self-serving. Both Bush and Cheney are oil barons by birth. That’s where their loyalties lie and that’s where their money comes from - campaign funding and otherwise.

From Bush to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, the White House is a puppet of big business, especially the oil industry.

Energy conservation is clearly the answer. As Bush so sharply pointed out, there must be less demand. Somehow, his plan doesn’t include any means of lowering demand.

Conservation would only work on a national scale, and most Americans are not willing to join the effort by giving up their gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and turning off the air conditioning.

It’s time for a national conservation program, but if Bush attempts anything of the sort, he may suffer the same fate as former President Carter, who pushed for conservation in the 1970s and failed to get re-elected.

Voters often cast their ballots with their pocketbooks in mind, so leaders who promise lower gas prices have an advantage.

Bush must decide what is more important: energy conservation and the environment or a second term in office. As a nation, we must consider why the environment is less of a priority than low gas prices.

Whether Alaska is drilled for oil, the economy will ultimately dominate, so let’s leave the wilderness alone and face up to the economy now.