Instead, their signature piece of legislation is a terribly misguided bill that would reopen the California coast to offshore drilling. It would do nothing to address the nation's energy problems and, at most, would only feed America's damaging habit a bit longer. It's expected to come up for a vote today and should be defeated.

Offshore drilling has been opposed by a vast majority of Californians and by lawmakers of both parties for decades. It's opposed by both Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic challenger for the governor's job, Phil Angelides.

Sadly, it's a Californian, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Stockton, who is the bill's No. 1 advocate.

Pombo's Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act would do all sorts of bad things. It would change the distribution of revenues from existing offshore drilling operations, which are mostly along the Gulf of Mexico, draining about $11 billion from the federal treasury over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. It would put federal ocean-policy protection in the hands of states and give them perverse incentives that would encourage drilling off their coasts.

But its impact on the environment is what's most distressing. Californians still remember the disastrous 1969 spill near Santa Barbara that soiled mile upon mile of pristine coastline. To jettison a 25-year ban on drilling that has protected our coast is unimaginable.

Even without a spill, drilling would have adverse effects on our already-stressed oceans and coastal resources.

Drilling is the wrong energy policy. As Schwarzenegger wrote in a letter to Pombo this week, the House would serve the country better by following California's aggressive energy-efficiency standards and commitment to renewable energy.

Another place where Pombo could find inspiration for wiser energy policies is the Senate, where a bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, would raise fuel-economy standards by 10 miles per gallon in 10 years. It would do far more to bring down high gas prices and to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, not to mention reducing pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Maybe Pombo missed it, but those are some of the nastiest side effects of America's energy addiction -- the sorts of things that make it imperative we kick the habit rather than struggle to feed it.