It is going to take a lot more than a national cartoon hog to solve national and regional energy problems made worse by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It will also take more than Gov. John Baldacci urging conservation, which he has done in response to tight natural gas supplies that could force rolling blackouts in New England if the weather is very cold this winter.

Americans are on track to soon use more oil and gas than can be extracted domestically or imported. The shutdown of ports, pipelines and refineries after the hurricanes made the situation worse. This is especially true of natural gas in New England. Forty percent of power plants in New England use natural gas as their primary fuel. If they don’t get enough gas, they can’t produce enough electricity to meet demand.

There are two ways to solve this problem. The Bush administration has focused on increasing supply by encouraging more oil and gas drilling and the construction of new power plants. Even if this were the best policy, local objection often makes it extremely difficult to site such facilities. Three liquefied natural gas terminals have been proposed for Washington County but all face major opposition and are years from reality. Even alternative energy sources, such as wind, which is renewable, and require burning our limited supply of fossil fuels, have run into opposition.

The other solution is conservation. To avert an electricity supply crisis this winter, this is a necessity. But, in the longer term, Maine and New England will have minimal impact on energy supplies without a national push for energy efficiency and conservation.

Part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s response has been a campaign to encourage kids to police energy use in their home by being on the lookout for “Energy Hog.” The leather-clad creature “pigs out on wasted energy” and kids are encouraged to banish him in an online game. In real life, they are encouraged to look for energy hogs, such as inefficient refrigerators and leaky windows, and tell their parents to replace them.

The department wouldn’t need the fierce hog if it had done its job. The Energy Department is as much as a decade behind schedule in setting efficiency standards for 22 common appliance devices. According to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, adopting standards for just the three high-priority items would reduce electricity use by more than 1 percent a year. Standards already in place have reduced electricity usage by 8 percent.

Congress dropped the ball as well. Before passing a massive energy bill just months ago, provisions requiring that 10 percent of the nation’s energy come from renewable sources by 2020 and that the president seek ways to reduce American oil use by 1 million barrels a day – both strongly supported by Maine’s senators – were stripped from the legislation.

Just two months later, Mainers are being warned that if they don’t save energy the lights may go out this winter.

Contrary to Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that “conservation may be a sign of personal virtue but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy,” it turns out that conservation must be part of that policy.