In case you missed it, the staggeringly half-assed Resolution 6899 passed in the House last week. A Democrat-sponsored bill, it represents at its perfect expression that generally well-intentioned party's self-destructive urge toward empty grandstanding mixed with craven appeasement that pleases no one.

To start with, the Dems caved to the angry, misinformed, and paid off by capitulating to the "drill here, drill now" crowd -- but only partially. Drilling between 50 and 100 miles of shore would be allowed; the Republicans are pressing for a barrier of three miles. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) notes that 85 percent of all continental shelf oil deposits would be accessible under this scheme; her political opponents, like Thelma Drake (R-Virginia), say that 88 percent of oil deposits would not be available. Perhaps one or both are getting their numbers from Energy Expert Sarah Palin.

Predictably, this drew angry bluster from Republican lawmakers, who seem to feel that anything less than total adherence to their desired policies constitutes treason. "This is not 'yes' to drilling. This is 'yes, but no drilling in Alaska, no drilling in the Eastern Gulf, no drilling inside 50 miles.' This is 'yes, but no litigation reform that will prevent radical environmental attorneys from tying up leases even before a single shovel of dirt is turned." fumed Rep. Mike Pence (R-a landlocked state with no oil reserves called Indiana).

The White House even got in on the act, expressing grievous concern about a "lack of seriousness about expanding access to the vast domestic energy resources." Other Republican leaders expressed dismay that their states would not receive revenue-sharing opportunities under the bill, the barefaced honesty of which surprises the casual observer accustomed to that party's rhetoric about selflessly reducing gas prices for the common man.

Of course, everybody's ignoring the elephant in the room, and that's the fact that wherever we drill, whenever we drill, it won't make a damn lick of difference to the price of oil or to our state of energy independence. As has been pointed out often but futilely, we'd have to wait five years or more to obtain only enough oil to depress the price of a barrel of oil by less than a dollar. The giraffe in the room -- the fact that by reducing demand we popped the speculative bubble and reduced oil prices far more than drilling ever will -- is equally lonely.

Some foundation and toner was applied to the saggy face of 6899 in the form of a proposed $5000 tax break for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and lesser breaks for other hybrids with lower-capacity batteries, as well as fines and tax credits to force all gas stations to provide at least one pump dispensing CNG (compressed natural gas), E85 ethanol fuel, biodiesel, or hydrogen. Any company not in compliance by 2018 would be fined $100,000 per station, though a $50,000 tax credit would be offered to stations that choose an E85 pump. All of which sounds quite nice, until one realizes that the $40,000 Volt will likely be too expensive even with the tax break to be anything but a niche-market curiosity, and that crop-derived biofuels are such a bad idea that many ecologists and energy analysts suggest that fossil fuels are actually better for the environment.

Overall, 6899 is a bitter disappointment, and a demonstration that Washington's paralyzing confusion, ambivalence, and inertia regarding energy issues will continue well into the next president's administration -- no matter who is elected. By focusing on irrelevancies like offshore drilling and fuels for cars, policymakers continue to mistreat strategies like energy conservation, alternative energy sources, carbon taxes, and fiscal reform to stop public support of polluting and counterproductive industrial activities. In attempting to cave a little bit to everyone, 6899 and the Democrats that sponsor it have earned the respect and support of none. Pity.