Energy Policy astray.(COMMENTARY)

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Byline: Myron Ebell, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Whether Americans will continue to enjoy abundant supplies of affordable energy in coming decades depends on negotiations in a House-Senate conference committee that will likely climax in the next fortnight. A serious policy debate will not determine the outcome. Instead, it all hinges on whether White House officials are so eager to get an energy bill - any energy bill - that they will cave in to the demands of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, and Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

The stakes are so high because the House- and Senate-passed versions of the energy bill, H. R. 4, could not be more …