Gas Pains.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Energy: The U.S. faces major shortages and sharply higher prices for natural gas, a new study says. So why are some politicians so reluctant to find more?

The report issued by a group of House Republicans on Tuesday comes as Congress tries to shape a new energy agenda for the 21st century.

What the group found, as news accounts noted, was frightening.

"Our findings are stark," wrote Reps. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana and Richard Pombo of California, who co-chaired the task force. "The U.S. is on a trajectory toward an energy future which threatens Americans' livelihood and quality of life, and puts at peril our national manufacturing and industrial base."

Sounds dire, but it's no exaggeration. In recent years, natural gas prices have shot up at double-digit rates. Soaring use of clean gas at power plants and fewer supplies on hand are the reasons, a classic imbalance between supply and demand.

Last week, in an equally alarming report, the National Petroleum Council warned that soaring demand could push up gas prices from about $4.50 per thousand cubic feet to $5 to $7 per thousand cubic feet in the next two decades.

That group suggested the U.S. open ...