Schlesinger's Czardom Takes Shape

"I believe that we have now got such a horrible conglomeration of confusion in the energy field that nobody knows what is going to happen next." So complained President Carter at his news conference last week, and no one would disagree. At present, nine of the eleven Cabinet departments deal with energy policy in one way or another. So do five independent energy agencies. Programs of various sorts in the field have spread through the Washington bureaucracy like derricks in a West Texas oilfield: the Federal Energy Administration runs a total of 23 separate data-collection projects, the Federal Power Commission 40, the Interior Department 22, the Energy Research and Development Administration 19.

This week Carter will attack the proliferation problem by submitting to Congress proposed legislation for creating a streamlined Cabinet-level Department of Energy, fulfilling a promise made early in his campaign. The department, which already is becoming known as DOE in Washington, is in essence the kingdom being created for the man whom Carter has already designated as his Administration's energy czar, former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. At DOE, Schlesinger, now chief White House energy adviser, will have an annual budget of around $7 billion and a truly czar-sized staff of about 20,000 employees. Among them, beneath Schlesinger as Energy Secretary, will be a Deputy Secretary, two Under Secretaries and eight Assistant Secretaries.

The idea of a Cabinet-level energy department is hardly revolutionary; indeed, the DOE that Carter is proposing resembles one drawn up by the Ford Administration in its waning days. But it is a plain and practical proposal, attuned to the nation's current political and economic realities:

> An Energy Data Administration. This is a pet project of Schlesinger's, a relentless dataphile, who is dismayed about the lack of reliable information on such vital matters as reserves of natural gas and production possibilities of gas and oil. He does not trust industry figures or believe they tell Government enough to make sound policy decisions. In a tactful way, Carter made the same point in his news conference: "I want to increase the surety that the reserve-supply data given us by the oil companies and others are accurate."

> An Energy Regulatory Administration. This will be DOE'S licensing and rate-making agency, and it will take over such functions of the Federal Power Commission as approving interstate rates for gas pipelines and electric-power sales. It is the most politically vulnerable of the Carter proposals because DOE'S regulators would not be serving for fixed terms as an independent agency that is insulated from politics like the FPC. Congress could balk, and White House staffers admit that they are "apprehensive" about this aspect of the DOE plan. The Administration hopes to overcome objections about a lack of independence among the DOE regulators by creating a bipartisan appeals board to review their rate decisions.

In addition, there will be Assistant Secretaries for conservation and environment. Among their other tasks, they are supposed to promote methods of energy saving and try to limit the ravages to the land that might occur as the Carter Administration presses ahead with the development of its favorite energy source, coal.

The department would pick up several functions now performed elsewhere in the existing Washington energy Establishment. From Housing and Urban Development, it would get authority to set thermal efficiency standards for all buildings in the U.S.; from the Securities and Exchange Commission, power to regulate public utility mergers; from Commerce, responsibility over all programs to promote voluntary energy conservation in industry.

The plan was put together by Schlesinger, Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus and their aides, working with energy specialists from Congress and existing energy agencies. There was debate, and some dissent, on specific points, but the planning sessions generally went quite smoothly.

Congressional leaders seem sympathetic and are not likely to do extensive damage to the Carter proposal in forthcoming hearings. Many legislators appear inclined to accept the Carter-Schlesinger argument for quick approval of the DOE proposal, which runs: "Pass this one to let us get things organized and running." The big battle, over the substance of energy policy itself, will begin when the Administration starts hammering out the proposals that it plans to submit to Congress by April 20.

Carter is just beginning to receive position papers from his advisers on what his policies should be. But three major elements already are visible: 1) conservation of oil and gas by making them cost more, 2) greater use of coal, and 3) de-emphasis of nuclear power. Both Carter and Schlesinger (a former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, among his other credits) agree that nuclear power is too expensive and too vulnerable on the safety issue. In his budget, Carter has cut $200 million from the fast-breeder reactor program. One reason: such reactors produce plutonium, which can be used by any nation --friend or foe--to make atomic bombs.

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