DES MOINES, March 2: Without mentioning Enron Corp., President George W. Bush on Friday defended contacts between a White House task force and energy industry executives, saying they were justified in developing the administration’s energy policies.

And, while he urged the Energy Department to release its documents related to the energy panel’s work, Bush said he would stand his ground in an unprecedented court battle to keep internal White House records of those meetings from congressional investigators.

The White House has already acknowledged that representatives from Enron, Bush’s biggest financial backer in the 2000 campaign, were among the industry experts that the White House energy task force consulted, but has denied that the now-bankrupt energy trader received any special favors.

We listened to energy companies, which seems to make sense, Bush told reporters traveling with him in Iowa. If you’re developing an energy plan, one place to start is to listen to people who know something about the business.

Bush said the energy task force, headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, also listened to environmental groups...concerned about how to create more conservation.

Environmentalists say they were largely shut out of the task force’s proceedings and, like Congress’ General Accounting Office (GAO), have taken the administration to court to obtain the task force’s records.

Critics say the task force, after months of closed-door deliberations, produced an energy policy tilted heavily in favor of Enron and other companies. The plan calls for more oil and gas drilling as well as a revival of nuclear power.

Bush defended his decision to withhold the documents from the GAO, saying that divulging the task force records would harm the executive branch’s ability to get candid outside advice.

In order for people to give me sound advice, that information ought not to be public, Bush said. And therefore, when the GAO overstepped its bounds to try to get advice given to the vice president and me, we resisted.

But Bush’s efforts to keep the records secret were dealt a setback this week when a judge ordered the administration to release documents from the Department of Energy relating to the energy panel’s work.

The Department of Energy says it will comply with the order issued Feb. 21 by a US District Court judge. She told the department to release thousands of pages of documents to the Natural Resources Defense Council that had sought them under the Freedom of Information Act.

But those documents are likely to constitute only part of the interagency task force documents the GAO and others are seeking.

White House officials played down the Natural Resources Defense Council ruling, drawing a distinction between the GAO’s case and those based on the Freedom of Information Act.

I’m not concerned, Bush told reporters. As a matter of fact, I hope the Energy Department gets the documents out there as quickly as they possibly can.—Reuters