The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

198 THE FREEMAN Aprilpoint of an unprecedented messageby President Nixon to Congresslast June and also of a reportissued several months ago bya special committee of the NationalPetroleum Council, an industryboard established undergovernment guide lines to help advisethe Secretary of the Interior.The report was the result ofthousands of hours of research by200 experts in their fields, the bestqualified staff people, finance specialists,government officials, andby teams of scientists and technologists.The American Mining Congressaccurately summarized the conclusionsreached in the NPC Report:1. The current natural gas shortagewill increase in severity.2. We will become increasingly dependenton imports of foreigncrude oil from the eastern hemisphere.3. The energy industries will find itdifficult to raise the estimated$374 billion in capital by 1985 to"provide for our burgeoning energyrequirements."On October 28th in Houston,Ralph Nader breezily dismissedany such situation and describedthe energy gap as "a promotion"of the fuel companies' advertisingdepartments. Actually, said thisself-designated authority on naturalresources, there is no shortageof fuel in this country. They arefinding resources, he assured everyone,faster than the public canconsume them.Mr. Nader's headline news thatthere is no shortage of fuel is atcomplete odds with the unanimousfindings of government and industryand can only serve to confusethe public. Do we or don't we havea shortage? I rely on the expertswho say we do, and I charge thatincomplete and inaccurate datawere used as a base to demonstratewe don't.Bias Also Showingin Halls 01 CongressBut it is not the consumer lobbyistsalone whose bias is showing.The Halls of Congress are no lessoverrun today with antipreneurs- whose zeal, if nothing elsecanonly be admired. But I despairover their lack of accuracy, theirlack of objectivity and their lackof accountability.I cite as an irrefutable exampleof thi~ situation the 1971 reportof the House Subcommittee onSpecial Small Business Problems.The transcript of the SubcommitteeHearings and its final reportreflect the mounting andhighly biased attack upon the associationof oil companies withcoal companies. That this bias isnot based on fact is apparent froma reading of the transcript andreport in which wholly unsubstan..;