"But the real cause is a profound shift in the global energy system that has been 25 years in the making: The world's thirst for oil has grown faster than the industry's ability to slake it. As recently as the late 1990s there were gluts. Now there is virtually no spare oil left.

Many big forces combined to create the crunch: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' obsession with avoiding market crashes, Big Oil's emphasis on profits over finding oil, China's new oil addiction, America's old one, and the new role of investors in energy markets. Behind it were decisions by individuals around the world, including a Saudi minister, a British oil baron and a Beijing yuppie.

The outcome of the energy law is only the most recent example of how American leaders, both Republican and Democrats, have failed to ease the country's oil dependence. The oil shock of the 1970s led Congress to set auto-efficiency standards. But low energy prices later sapped political will in both parties to keep up the conservation effort.

Mr. Lundquist notes that the law does include some policies his task force proposed, such as giving utilities more incentives to invest in coal-fired and nuclear-power plants. Perhaps in a decade, those measures will give the U.S. more energy alternatives. But he thinks America is still dodging the tough calls it needs to make on fueling its future.

Sen. Bingaman agrees: "The big challenges remain unaddressed."