The Nation: Here Come Higher Energy Costs

America faces still higher energy costs, either through President Ford's program or his critics' call for a steeper federal gasoline tax—or some compromise between those positions. Congress will tinker and tamper with Ford's energy program in hopes of moderating its inflationary impact. But if, through some legislative miracle, the taxes, tariffs and decontrol measures are enacted as they are now proposed, the average price of crude oil in the U.S. will take a substantial leap from $9 per bbl. to $13. The Federal Energy Administration estimates that the average price of heating oil would rise from the present 38¢ per gal....