What fun would it be to dash back in time and relive Jimmy Carter’s energy policies without a visit from the maestro himself? E&E Daily reports that the former president will advise Congress in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing tomorrow on the Great Leap Backward.

First Congress trot out Al Gore again, then Carter…can John DeLorean be far behind in this “Back to the Future” witness queue of success stories? Hmm, his DMC-12 didn’t advance beyond prototype until the 1981 model year, stepping on the joke, so instead, surely state-owned Chrysler will revive the Gremlin and Pacer while we’re rehashing the Seventies.

Writes the trade publication:

“Facing an Arab oil embargo 30 years ago, Carter encouraged Americans to turn down the thermostat and embrace conservation measures.”

Funny, our new president says:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said. “That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” melding Carter’s energy policies with another of his notions, leadership-means-what-others-approve of. 

E&E continues:

Carter will likely tell lawmakers tomorrow that returning to his conservation efforts and energy policies would enhance national security, a tenet that has been championed by organizations like the Energy Security Leadership Council….

In the years since his presidency, Carter has remained in touch with the nation’s energy situation. He has planted paulownia trees near his house in Georgia. Paulownia trees are among the fastest growing in the world and can be converted to ethanol.

And tomorrow he is likely to urge lawmakers to act quickly in changing the way the nation gets its energy, echoing statements he made in the 1977 speech: “If we fail to act soon, we will face an economic, social and political crisis that will threaten our free institutions. But we still have another choice. We can begin to prepare right now. We can decide to act while there is time.”

Looks like we failed to learn from history. Heck, even Carter’s National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski is now an unpaid advisor to President Obama. You remember, Z-Big, oh he of counseling Carter that Islamic terrorism was a flash in the pan and nothing to get all in a lather about.

What’s next, trouble with Iran?