Nation: The Only Abomination In Town

That's the endless gas battle "I never thought," said Senator Russell Long, in an appropriate tone of disbelief, "the conferees could take a House bill favored by the consumers, and a Senate bill favored by the producers, and work out a fiasco opposed by both. But they have clearly succeeded in doing so."

The object of Long's contempt and ridicule was the celebrated "compromise" on deregulation of natural gas, which emerged from a Senate-House committee three weeks ago and seemed to herald the passage of Carter's long-stalled energy bill. That, in turn, seemed to permit Carter to take off for a vacation in the Rockies. But the compromise, which would increase the price of most natural gas by 15% immediately and then continue raising prices each year until controls end in 1985, has many enemies. Consumer groups oppose the price increases as excessive, while the gas industry wants immediate deregulation to stimulate new production. Indeed, the compromise had scarcely been issued before it was denounced by a collection of 18 Senators ranging from the liberal Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts to the conservative John Tower of Texas. Said Ohio's Howard Metzenbaum, a leader in the fight against gas deregulation: "It's really an amazing coalition we have put together."

The prospect of such a major Administration program going to its doom prompted Carter to cut short his vacation by two days and hurry back to the White House for some intense lobbying. He summoned a group of eleven Governors and warned them that the energy package must pass. "The entire world," he said, "is looking at our Government to see whether we have the national will to deal with this difficult challenge. If this legislation is not enacted, it will have a devastating effect on our national image, the value of the dollar, our balance of trade and inflation." The Governors were impressed. Said Julian Carroll of Kentucky, new chairman of the Governors' conference: "It would be catastrophic if this energy bill did not pass."

That same afternoon, Carter called a conclave of 125 business leaders from around the nation, gave them a similar warning, and asked them to lobby Congress. The businessmen generally supported him but without glowing enthusiasm. Said R.P. Simmons of Allegheny Ludlum Steel: "The bill may be an abomination, but it's the only abomination in town."

The key battle now lies in the Senate, which is expected to take up the bill late this week. Here, powerful opposition forces include Senator Long of gas-producing Louisiana, who argues that the Administration plan would "tie up producers and investors in a morass of endless paperwork, hearings, litigation and bureaucratic red tape."