A Hard Rowe to Hoe

Some heavyweight funders have ponied up $10 million to create a National Commission on Energy Policy, pulling together former members of the Bush and Clinton administrations and representatives from industry and environmental groups to recommend a long-range energy plan for the United States. Over the next two years, the commission intends to develop a "centrist approach" between Republicans and Democrats to avoid the type of clash that occurred this year over President Bush's proposed energy plan, according to the commission's co-chair, John Rowe, who is the top dog at Exelon Corp., a company that runs the nation's largest group of nuclear power plants. William Reilly, U.S. EPA administrator during the first Bush administration, will also co-chair the group. Energy expert Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council is the most prominent environmentalist on the commission. Funders include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and David and Lucile Packard Foundation.