TORONTO - Dick Cheney says America needs more oil, more natural gas, more nuclear power plants and even coal-fired generators to deal with its energy needs. One thing the U.S. vice-president didn't talk much about is the need for conservation.

 

'All Americans could one day go through what Californians are experiencing now.' –: Dick Cheney

Cheney said, "The reality is that fossil fuels supply virtually 100 per cent of our transportation needs and an overwhelming share of our electricity requirements." He said alternative fuels are "years down the road."

And while Cheney called conservation "a sign of personal virtue," he said it doesn't make for sound energy policy.

Cheney said without a clear, effective energy policy, the country could face widespread power outages. "All Americans could one day go through what Californians are experiencing now, or worse."

Cheney told an audience of American and Canadian newspaper editors in Toronto that the U.S. will need to build one new power plant every week in the next 20 years to meet the increasing power needs. "It's time to get moving," he said.

And part of that move will mean new nuclear-powered plants.

The U.S. hasn't licensed a new nuclear plant in 20 years – since the accident at Three Mile Island – but he said that might have to change. He called nuclear power, "a safe, clean, very plentiful energy source."

 

Dick Cheney speaking at a luncheon in Toronto

Cheney also suggested a greater use of coal to produce electricity, calling it both available and affordable, though he agreed that the government would have to spend money trying to find a cleaner way to burn coal.

Cheney and the Bush administration also want to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He said new drilling technologies are safer and more efficient. He said oil production would take up about 2,000 acres out of a total of 19 million acres on the refuge.

Cheney heads a cabinet-level task force that will present its recommendations on American energy needs to President Bush by the end of May.