Something has to give in order to make President Bush's new energy legislation agreeable to the vast majority.

The Clear Skies legislation plans to ease regulations for energy companies such as the Detroit-based DTE Energy.

At the same time, the legislation claims to improve air quality by decreasing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury pollutants by 70 percent.

If the legislation decreases regulations for environmentally friendly energy creation, it is doubtful that at the same time it can decrease such a large percentage of pollutants. By decreasing regulations enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency through efforts such as the Clean Air Act, it is inevitable the environment will suffer. But if plants expand under present regulations, the cost of expansion will inevitably fall upon the consumers.

It is cheapest for a plant to build larger facilities and more powerful machines that can create energy quickly. Because efforts to make energy clean are expensive, it is not likely companies will take on the full economic burden.

Something has to give a little. Regulations need to be more lenient to make it easier for energy companies to expand and support the nation while still cleaning up the environment.

Somehow there needs to be a balance between these two ideas so the customer is not paying the price. The Clear Skies plan is not perfect. But Bush is correct in attempting to help energy companies increase their facilities.

The August blackout proved the nation's dependence on energy and it's promising to see the president step up to the plate and try to prevent a reoccurrence.

At the same time, people need to continue to keep energy conservation a top priority.

If citizens can conserve the energy they use, it will help make it easier for energy companies and environmental agencies to compromise on how this nation operates.