ABSTRACT
I It is a pleasure to be here. I have interacted with faculty and staff at the Colorado School of Mines for most of my years in government service, as well as before, during my years in academia, and i am very pleased to see some old friends, make new acquaintances, and spend some time sharing thoughts about U.S. energy policy in a rapidly changing world. I have taken it as my charge this evening to provide an overview of current national energy policy issues, with particular attention to the perspectives from Capitol Hill—where I spend most of my time. I hope it comes as no surprise that this charge is a somewhat difficult one these days since, for example, more than 150 bills were introduced into the 102d Congress that aspired to be components of "national energy policy." Moreover, I am sure you have heard and I can confirm that there is often much more heat than light shed on energy policy discussions in Washington.
