(FORTUNE Magazine) – Long before Saddam Hussein underscored the need for the U.S. to be less dependent on Middle East oil, President Bush directed the Department of Energy to put together the thoughts of industrial leaders, academics, and politicians on what the nation's energy policy should be. Eighteen months later some 448 often contradictory pieces of testimony are in. Examples: Perhaps predictably, GM Chief Executive Robert Stempel argued against requiring more fuel efficiency from new cars. That, he said, would put U.S. automakers at a competitive disadvantage. Less predictably, Phillips Petroleum CEO C. J. Silas called for ''a phased-in petroleum-transport fuel-user fee of 50 cents a gallon, with the proceeds earmarked for transportation infrastructure and environmental cleanup.'' Opponents to a gas tax included Richard Fillman, director of corporate energy affairs at Bethlehem Steel. He argued increased fuel prices would cut into investment in more energy-efficient technologies. Alaska State Senator Jan Faiks called for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in which anything from 3.2 billion barrels of oil to much more may lie. Said Senator Faiks: ''We recognize there will be environmental change. But we also understand the need for the U.S. to be as energy independent as possible.'' (For more on Alaska's huge reserves, see Oil.)