Count eventual energy costs

The last hope of passing "cap and trade" energy legislation this year ended last Thursday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid conceded that he lacked the votes needed to overcome a filibuster threat. But the need to ease America's reliance on fossil fuels endures.

Those who helped kill the bill branded it "a national energy tax." They warned that a cap-and-trade system of economic incentives to limit carbon emissions would inevitably increase energy prices.

However, America's long-term energy prices are bound to soar even higher if we don't intensify our efforts to develop alternative energy and conserve fuel and electric power.

As global energy demand rises, so does its price. This month, China replaced the U.S. as the planet's top energy-consuming nation, according to the International Energy Agency. And the July 16 explosion of two pipelines has produced a serious oil spill off China's northeastern coast.

Like the ongoing environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, that giant oil slick offers this reminder: We should not put South Carolina's pristine coast, a vital economic as well as natural asset, at risk by going into the offshore drilling business.

Nor should the U.S. use China's refusal to curb greenhouse gas emissions as an excuse to do the same. Despite its reluctance on the carbon-reduction front, China is aggressively advancing in nuclear, solar and wind power. If we don't do the same, we'll fall further behind in the global race for carbon-free energy technology.

Sen. Reid pointed out that not a single GOP senator supported the cap-and-trade bill. Yet several Democrats also opposed it. And Democrats mustered the filibuster-proof margin needed to pass an extension of unemployment benefits last week without a single Republican vote.

The lone Republican who had supported cap and trade, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, withdrew his backing three months ago after fairly deeming that the Senate's Democratic leadership had double-crossed him by hastily reviving a politically volatile immigration reform package.

Regardless of such election-year machinations, postponing the necessity of reducing carbon emissions and U.S. dependence on oil undermines our nation's economy -- and security. Americans' wariness about the costs of cap and trade, a carbon tax or even a gas-tax hike is understandable, especially during these tough times.

But "drill, baby, drill" is not the answer. And the longer we put off the hard choices required to make ourselves more energy efficient and less dependent on fossil fuels, the steeper our ultimate costs will be.