GLOBAL AGENDA: Kicking the Big-Car Habit

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So far, Japanese firms, especially Toyota and Honda, have taken the lead in advanced automobile technology. The Japanese car industry, Lovins said to me last week, has "uninhibited visionary leaders in a country which has no oil and is acutely aware of its oil dependence." If the U.S. automobile industry waits for years to see if lightweight fuel-efficient cars are more than a niche business, Lovins argues, it will one day discover that it has lost another market to overseas firms. There is a need too for political leadership. Lovins insists the study's recommendations require "no major federal legislation." But at the very least, they need a Federal Government prepared to encourage states and localities to experiment with policies that increase energy efficiency.

All reports that promise an easy solution to a complex problem need to be taken with a degree of skepticism, and Winning the Oil Endgame is no exception. The usual pork-barrel politics could quickly bog down some of the policy prescriptions in the book, like loan guarantees for the development of new energy-saving technologies. But in a sensible presidential election, the recommendations of Winning the Oil Endgame would be discussed and debated from now through November. Don't hold your breath.