Uncommon events like the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant meltdown and the Persian Gulf war as well as such unremitting problems as global climate change and the balance‐of‐payments deficit point up the urgency of dealing with the nation's energy issues. Congress is now deliberating President Bush's National Energy Strategy. The topic is hardly a new one. In fact, in the words of that immortal American philosopher Yogi Berra, “It'sde´ja` vuall over again.”